Korea's entrepreneurship index last year ranked eighth in the world.
The Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) on the 27th released the results of the "2025 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)" survey and said Korea's entrepreneurship index ranked eighth among those surveyed in 53 countries. Korea scored 5.9 out of 10. That is 1.1 points higher than the GEM participant average of 4.8. However, the ranking fell two spots from sixth (6.0 points) in 2024.
GEM is an international survey in which the nonprofit research group "Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (Gera)" in the United Kingdom annually assesses each country's level of entrepreneurship and analyzes the correlation between entrepreneurship and economic growth. It calculates the index by surveying experts and the general adult population in more than 50 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan, on startup environment and perceptions.
In the expert survey, Korea saw scores rise year over year in 5 of 13 indicators. "Market dynamism" rose 0.4 points to 7.9, and "physical infrastructure (internet, transportation, space, etc.)" increased 0.4 points to 7.6. "Tertiary education and training" was 5.5 (up 0.2), "primary and secondary education and training" was 4.9 (up 0.1), and "appropriateness of culture and social norms" was 6 (up 0.1).
Perceptions of startups also improved in the general adult survey. The share who said they "plan to start a business within three years" was 24.6%, up 1.9 percentage points from a year earlier. The share who said they hesitated to start a business despite seeing opportunities because of a "fear of failure" was 27%, the lowest among participating countries.
Also, 44.8% of respondents engaged in early-stage startup activity said they consider the social and environmental impact corporations may have more important than corporations' revenue and growth. The share who said they use digital technology to sell products and services was 63.8%, a sharp increase of 44.7 percentage points from a year earlier.
Yu Jong-pil, head of the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), said, "With this release, we will objectively assess the current level of Korea's startup environment and strengthen policy support so the startup ecosystem can continue to improve and develop."