December 30, 2015 14:38
Venture businesses have emerged as a driving force of the Korean economy as they have grown in both quantity and quality.
The Small and Medium Business Administration on Monday announced achievements in management, job creation and technology innovation for venture businesses.
They sampled 2,227 out of 29,844 venture companies from July to September and estimated their combined performance in 2014.
Their total sales in 2014 are estimated at W214.6 trillion, accounting for 14.5 percent of gross domestic product, and average sales per company were W7.2 billion (US$1=W1,167).
Sales increased 11.2 percent from the previous year, compared to just 4.4 percent posted by small and medium-sized companies overall, while large corporations contracted 0.4 percent.
Their operating profit also rose 14 percent to W400 million on average per business.
The number of staff at venture businesses in 2014 was 717,000 or 4.7 percent of the total employed population. The average number of employees per venture was 24, which is 6.2 times more than the 3.9 average of small and medium-sized firms.
The comparison shows just how much venture businesses contribute to job creation, and about half of them plan to hire an average of 3.2 new staff by next year, or 48,000 in total.
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