[Graphic News] Korea tops in ratio of enterprises to GDP

Korea is overflowing with small-scale and self-employed businesses amid a shortage of high-quality jobs, data showed Tuesday.

According to a report released by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the ratio between the number of Korean enterprises and gross domestic product was higher than other OECD members. Korea had 3,300 enterprises per $1 billion of GDP, far higher than Spain’s 0.5, Turkey’s 1.8 and Canada’s 1.54.

Experts attributed Korea’s high number of enterprises to the lack of high quality jobs driving job seekers to opt for self-employment. Easier tax evasion was another factor driving such entrepreneurship, they added.

In an earlier OECD report in March, Korea ranked fourth-highest in the portion of self-employed businesses among all businesses. The report showed that 27.4 percent of Korean businesses were one-man outfits.

In addition, Korea’s labor productivity turned out to be among the lowest of OECD members, especially in the small- and midsized businesses with 10 to 249 workers.