By Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) — The number of businesses in South Korea increased by 1 percent in 2022 compared to the year before, according to data released on Monday, with transportation service firms seeing a rise.
Statistics Korea reported that the country had 6.14 million companies in 2022, up from 6.08 million in 2021.
The most businesses were in the wholesale and retail sector, with 1.51 million, followed by 864,000 restaurants and hotels, and 644,000 transportation firms.
The number of wholesalers and retailers dropped by 1.1 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, transportation businesses increased by 4.4 percent.
25.2 million people were employed by local companies in 2022, a 1.1 percent increase from the previous year.
The manufacturing industry employed the most people, 4.27 million, followed by the wholesale and retail industry with 3.59 million. The health care and social welfare sector hired 2.45 million people in 2022.
A visitor looks at a bulletin board at a job fair in southern Seoul on Sept. 19, 2023. (Yonhap)
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