The proportion of startups established by those in their 20s and 30s has fallen for four consecutive years amid an economic slump at home and abroad, outdone by middle-aged people opening their own businesses, data showed Tuesday.
Of the newly-launched businesses in the first nine months of the year, 16,869 firms were set up by people under 40, up 4.7 percent from 16,112 the previous year, according to Statistics Korea and the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA).
By comparison, the number of startups set up by those in their 50s or over jumped 15.4 percent on-year to 21,005 from 18,148.
The portion of startups established by the younger generation was 27 percent as of end-September, declining from 28.4 percent in
2012 and 28.2 percent in 2013. The portion peaked at 31 percent in 2008.
The portion for the middle-aged population reached 25.7 percent in September, up from 20.5 percent in 2008 and 25 percent in 2013.
The figures reflect a number of baby boomers who have retired and are seeking new jobs, experts say. Those born between 1955 and 1963 account for 14.6 percent of South Korea’s total population of
50 million.
“The baby boomers seek stability when they establish a company.
So their opening of a business is not always desirable,” said Kim Kab-lae, a senior researcher at the Korea Capital Market Institute.
“It’s the increase in startups by the young people who find blue ocean businesses that can contribute to economic growth.”
The state-run Small & Medium Business Corp. provided a total of 1.53 trillion won (US$1.39 billion) for startups last year, up from 1.39 trillion won a year ago, but the volume of money going to youth startups declined to 120 billion won from 130 billion won.
“Since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, the South Korean government has strongly supported information technology businesses, and that helped big online portals like Naver Corp. and Daum Kakao Corp. to rise,” said Kim Ki-heon, a researcher from the National Youth Policy Institute. “The current administration emphasizes startups, but its focus seems to be more on re-employment of the baby boomers.” (Yonhap)
