3.37 Million Women-Owned SMEs... Outpacing Growth of Male-Owned Businesses

Women's Economic Research Institute Releases 2023 Status of Women-Owned SMEs
Women Employees Account for 73% of Total Workforce

The Women's Economic Research Institute announced the "Status of Women-Owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as of 2023" on December 18. This report was analyzed based on the "2023 Basic Statistics on SMEs" released this year and the National Business Survey.

As of 2023, the number of women-owned SMEs in South Korea stood at 3,372,665, an increase of 113,454 (3.5%) compared to the previous year. This growth rate is 0.5 percentage points higher than that of male-owned businesses. The sales revenue of women-owned SMEs reached 639.475 trillion won, up 13.2414 trillion won (2.1%) from the previous year.

Yonhap News Agency

The number of employees was 5,534,662, an increase of 115,506 (2.1%) from the previous year. Women-owned businesses accounted for 72.7% of all female employees, which is 2.3 times higher than the proportion for men (31.6%).

By industry, women-owned SMEs were concentrated in wholesale and retail, real estate, and accommodation and food services, accounting for 64.2%. By company size, micro-enterprises made up 97.5% of all women-owned businesses. In terms of the number of employees, 82.1% of women-owned SMEs were single-person businesses, compared to 74.5% for men. Additionally, 92.5% of women-owned SMEs were operated as sole proprietorships, which is higher than the figure for men (83.7%).

By business history, 35.1% of women-owned SMEs had been operating for more than seven years, which is lower than the 44.9% for men. However, the proportion of businesses in operation for three years or less was 36.1% for women, higher than the 30.1% for men, indicating a greater presence of early-stage startups among women-owned SMEs.