1,100 Shops Close down Every Day

More than 100,000 retail stores vanished across the country in the second quarter due to the coronavirus crisis.

According to the Small Enterprise and Market Service, the number of retails stores fell 3.9 percent or 103,943 on-quarter to some 2.57 million in the second quarter. That boils down to 1,142 closures a day. 

The figure paints a devastating picture of the effects of the global lockdown on small businesses and the economy as a whole.

In the capital region alone some 54,760 retailers shut down in the second quarter -- 21,178 in Seoul, 25,932 in Gyeonggi Province, and 7,650 in Incheon.

According to the Korea Appraisal Board, the vacancy rate in shopping malls with three or more floors or measuring more than 330 sq.m reached an average of 12 percent in the second quarter, the most since records began in 2002.

The rate was higher in the provinces with 17.7 percent in North Gyeongsang Province, 16.6 percent in North Jeolla Province, and 16.3 percent in North Chungcheong Province than in the capital region -- 7.9 percent in Seoul and 9.8 percent in Gyeonggi.