[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), small business sales have been recovering for six consecutive weeks, but polarization is occurring by region.
According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 20th, the 'Small Business Sales Survey' showed that the sales decrease rate in the Seoul area was 52.5% as of the 18th, down 11.5 percentage points from 64.0% the previous week. The Gwangju and Honam regions also showed a recovery trend in sales, with the sales decrease rate dropping from 56.4% last week to 47.8% this week.
On the other hand, the sales decrease rate in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions rose 6.4 percentage points from 54.6% to 61.0% during the same period. The Gyeonggi and Incheon regions also saw a 1.2 percentage point increase from 51.4% to 52.6%.
By industry, the sales decrease rates fell by 9.9 percentage points (76.9% → 67.0%) in 'Tourism, Leisure, and Accommodation,' 6.7 percentage points (64.1% → 57.4%) in 'Educational Services,' and 5.6 percentage points (55.6% → 50.0%) in 'Clothing, Footwear, and Cosmetics.' Some sectors saw slight increases in the decrease rate, such as 'Processed Foods and General Retail' by 3.3 percentage points (42.4% → 45.7%) and 'Agricultural, Livestock, and Marine Products' by 2.5 percentage points (47.1% → 49.6%).
Regarding small business owners' own efforts to overcome COVID-19, responses were 'Strengthening marketing such as sales and events' (13.8%), 'Expanding delivery sales' (10.8%), and 'Expanding online sales' (6.7%) in order. After COVID-19 stabilizes, requests to the government included 'Expansion of small business exclusive gift certificates' (49.4%), 'Expansion of joint events such as local festivals' (22.7%), 'Support for publicity and marketing costs' (18.6%), and 'Financial support' (9.2%).
This sales survey has been conducted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups since February 3rd, using a panel survey method targeting about 300 small business sites and around 220 traditional markets weekly. It investigates changes in sales of small businesses and traditional markets compared to before the spread of COVID-19.
Jo Jaeyeon, head of the Small Business Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "As COVID-19 stabilizes and emergency disaster relief funds are released, the economy of small business owners and self-employed individuals is expected to gradually recover," adding, "We are also preparing nationwide consumption boom events to raise small business and self-employed sales back to pre-COVID-19 levels."
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