SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's number of businesses rose last year due to an expansion in the electricity and natural gas and the wholesale and retail sectors, statistical office data showed Tuesday.
The combined number of businesses was 6,353,673 at the end of 2024, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
The number of manufacturers and real estate companies slipped in single digits last year, but the figure for electricity and natural gas companies surged 33.7 percent, with the reading for wholesalers and retailers gaining 2.3 percent.
The wholesale and retail industry posted the highest number of businesses with 1,612,825, followed by the lodging and eatery sector with 858,373 and the transportation sector with 673,324.
The number of workers employed by local businesses went up 1.1 percent from a year earlier to 25,731,105 at the end of 2024.
The manufacturing industry hired the highest number of 4,146,119 employees, followed by the wholesale and retail sector with 3,599,680 and the healthcare and social welfare sector with 2,764,000.
The number of employees in the construction and the eatery and lodging industries retreated in single figures, but those in the healthcare and social welfare and the business facilities management service sectors recorded a single-digit growth last year. ■
