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While start-ups decreased significantly last year, the growth of domestic businesses has virtually stopped as even those that have been operating for a long time have closed their businesses one after another. In particular, the overall downturn in self-employment seems to be prolonged, with the closure of restaurants that have been operating for more than 20 years recording the largest ever.

According to the National Tax Service's national tax statistics on the 6th, as of the end of last year, the number of mobile operators was 10,321,407, up 1.7% from the previous year. The growth rate was the lowest since 2005, which can be found on the National Tax Statistical Portal.

Operating operator growth peaked at 7.5% in 2020 and fell to the 1% level for the first time last year after reaching 6.4% in 2021, 5.1% in 2022, 2.8% in 2023 and 2.0% in 2024.

The decline in start-ups is behind the slowdown in business growth. Last year, there were 1,168,273 new operators, down 4.1% from the previous year. It continued to decline for five consecutive years, the lowest level since 2014.

The number of business closures was 975,681 people, down 3.2% from the previous year, but the decline in start-ups was larger, which was not enough to support the increase in business operators. Last year, the ratio of business closures to new operators was 83.5%, the highest since 2013. In other words, nearly 84 out of 100 new businesses have closed.

Businesses that have been operating for a long time are also closing their businesses rapidly.

Last year, 317,406 businesses closed their businesses after operating for more than five years, the highest number since related statistics were compiled. The share of all closed businesses also reached an all-time high of 32.5%. One of the three closed businesses was one that had been in business for at least five years.

More than half of the reasons for the closure were "business slump." Due to the sluggish business, 491,966 businesses closed their businesses, accounting for 50.4% of the total. This is the highest proportion since 2009, when the aftermath of the financial crisis continued.

The situation was even more serious in the food industry, the representative business of self-employment.

Last year, 798,969 people operated by the food industry, down 1.9 percent from the previous year, falling below the 800,000 mark. The number of new startups stood at 130,114, down 13.6 percent from a year ago, the largest drop since comparable 2011.

On the other hand, 142,557 people closed their businesses, exceeding the size of their start-ups. As a result, the number of restaurant businesses decreased by 12,443, expanding the decline by about five times from the previous year.

Even old restaurants couldn't escape the recession. Last year, 41,659 restaurants closed for more than five years, the highest number since related statistics were compiled, and 2,797 restaurants closed for more than 20 years, the highest ever. Compared to 2021, this is a 61% increase in four years.

In addition, there are concerns that the court's recent abolition of Homeplus rehabilitation procedures could be another negative factor for the self-employed economy. If Homeplus finally goes bankrupt, there is a possibility that the damage will spread to store owners, suppliers, and suppliers.

The government plans to provide emergency liquidity worth a total of 440 billion won to small and medium-sized companies and small business owners that cooperate with Homeplus, and expand the limit of support for small business management stabilization funds from 70 million won to 100 million won to ease the impact.