Most Start-ups by Young People Fail

The number of start-ups by young people between 15 and 34 stood at 226,082 last year or a whopping 22.9 percent of the total, according to the National Tax Service on Thursday.

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Some 128,000 new businesses were set up by men, compared to 98,000 by women. Online retailers accounted for the largest number of start-ups with 37,059, followed by Korean restaurants (17,752), commodity brokers (4,608) and coffee shops (4,587).

The number of start-ups by young people shrank by 2,400 or one percent from 2011. But those by women rose 1.5 percentage points to 43.3 percent last year.

"Start-ups with a small capital or low risk have increased over the past five years", an NTS official said. "In particular, the number of food-related businesses and beauty businesses increased due to the rise in single households and a growing interest in appearance and health".

But just 13.8 percent of online shops that opened in 2011 were still in business last year, meaning nine out of 10 closed within five years. Among Korean restaurants, only 15.8 percent were still open five years later.

Car repair shops had the highest survival rate at 55.6 percent, followed by metal mold manufacturers (54.5 percent) and opticians (51.3 percent).

The survival rate of start-ups by young entrepreneurs in the first five years was a weak 23.45 percent, compared to 27.3 percent overall.