More Self-Employed People Go Out of Business

A total of 580,000 people opened their own businesses in 2013, but 660,000 closed them down. Experts say the figures show just how deep the current economic slump is.

The Hyundai Research Institute announced the findings based on an analysis of data from 2011 to 2013.

The number of people who opened their own businesses exceeded the number closing them down in both 2011 and 2012.

Kim Kwang-seok at the institute said, "It seems that too many people opened their own businesses, resulting in excessive competition. There's always a marked rise in the number of self-employed people closing down their businesses during acute economic downturns."

Self-employed people in their 40s were hit especially hard, accounting for 45 percent of those who closed down their businesses. It was largely due to their relative lack of experience as most in the age group opened a store for a living for the first time after getting laid off.

Some 18 percent of closed businesses were run by those in their 20s and 11 percent by those in their 50s.

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