SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of newly established companies in South Korea fell for the second straight year last year, statistical office data showed Thursday.
The number reduced by 36,000 over the year to 997,000 in 2022 after decreasing by 35,000 in 2021, according to Statistics Korea.
The number of newly launched firms in the real estate and the manufacturing industries dropped 32,000 and 8,000 each last year, while the figure in the transport and warehousing sector grew 13,000.
The proportion of newcomers to all business entities slipped 0.9 percentage points to 13.6 percent in 2022, marking the lowest since relevant data began to be compiled in 2011.
Meanwhile, the number of permanently closed companies declined by 33,000 from a year earlier to 735,000 in 2021.
The proportion of closed firms to all business units dipped 0.9 percentage points to 10.3 percent in 2021. ■