Seoul: The number of mid-sized firms in South Korea increased by approximately 10 percent in 2024 from the previous year, alongside a significant rise in their research and development investments, as revealed by government data on Tuesday. The data highlights that Asia's fourth-largest economy recorded 6,474 mid-sized companies by the end of 2024, marking an increase of 606 firms, or 10.3 percent year-on-year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources provided the data, which defines mid-sized firms as those with average annual sales ranging from 40 billion won (US$27.9 million) to 150 billion won over the past three years. Of these firms, manufacturing companies comprised 2,174, accounting for 33.6 percent of the total, while non-manufacturing firms made up the remaining 4,300.
The data further showed that the combined sales of mid-sized firms reached 1,030.5 trillion won, reflecting a 4.7 percent increase compared to the previous year. Their collective operating profit rose 5.9 percent year-on-year to 50.3 trillion won. Investments by these firms surged 17.1 percent year-on-year to 36.4 trillion won, with research and development investments jumping 35.2 percent to 13 trillion won.
A ministry official noted that "mid-sized companies have shown growth in all indexes, from sales to investments and job numbers, since around the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022." The total workforce employed by mid-sized companies reached 1.76 million, up 3.1 percent from the year before, according to the data.