No. of businesses in S. Korea up 1.8 pct in 2017

SEJONG, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- The number of companies doing business in South Korea rose slightly in 2017 from a year earlier amid a steady economic expansion, government data showed Thursday.

There were 4.02 million businesses last year, up 1.8 percent, or 70,000, from 2016, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

They employed a combined 21,335,900 workers last year, also up 1.6 percent, or about 332,000 from the previous year.

Over the 10-year period from 2007, the number of companies jumped 23.2 percent and that of employees increased 35.4 percent.

The wholesale and retail sector had the largest number of companies with 1 million, followed by 747,000 restaurants and hotels, and 434,000 manufacturing firms.

In terms of employment, the manufacturing industry had 4.11 million workers, accounting for nearly a fifth of total, while 3.16 million workers were engaged in the wholesale and retail business, and 2.2 million people were working in the accommodation field.

Last year, the South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest, advanced 3.1 percent, aided by strong exports and recovering domestic demand.

sam@yna.co.kr
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