▲ Containers stacked at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi Province
The growth in production for small and medium-sized manufacturing and service industries has slowed, while rising inflation has worsened business sentiment among small merchants and traditional markets, data showed.
According to the September issue of the KOSI SME Trends report released by the Korea Small Business Institute (KOSI) on September 28, production in small and medium-sized manufacturing grew 0.8% in July compared to the same month last year, continuing an upward trend, though the margin of growth narrowed from the previous month (3.3%).
Output in the small and medium-sized service sector also increased by 1.3% year-on-year, but the growth pace slowed compared to the previous month (3.6%).
Retail sales rose by 1.4 trillion won (2.6%) year-on-year to reach 56.2 trillion won.
Sales of non-durable and semi-durable goods increased by 4.2% and 2.4%, respectively, while durable goods sales fell by 0.6%.
As of last month, the number of employees at small and medium-sized enterprises stood at 25.728 million, an increase of 129,000 from the same month last year.
The number of workers at businesses with 1 to 4 employees increased by 189,000 to 10.217 million, whereas businesses with 5 to 299 employees saw a decrease of 61,000 to 15.51 million.
As of July, the number of newly founded businesses declined across major sectors including services, manufacturing, and construction, dropping 9.3% year-on-year to 93,516.
Last month's Business Survey Index (BSI) reflecting the sentiment of small merchants fell 11.7 points year-on-year to 60.6, largely driven by rising inflation, while the BSI for traditional markets dropped 18.6 points to 57.0.
However, the outlook BSI for small merchants in September rose 6.8 points to 95.1, and the outlook BSI for traditional markets stood at 105.0.
The Korea Small Business Institute stated, "There are growing concerns over rising cost and financial burdens, driven by inflation and an upward turn in SME loan delinquency rates," adding, "Efforts are required to ease the cost and financing burdens of small merchants and SMEs so that economic recovery expectations surrounding the holiday season can translate into actual sales recovery."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.