Signal Korean small firms produce under a third of large-firm output per worker

Summary

The strategy reports that in 2023 labour productivity in small and medium firms was 32.8 percent of that in large firms. Productivity in services was 49.4 percent of that in manufacturing in the same year. OECD comparisons for manufacturing in 2020 put Korean SME productivity at 36.8 percent of large firms, against 62.7 percent in France, 56.1 percent in Germany and an average of 55.8 percent across 28 OECD countries. The government treats low productivity in small firms and services as one reason overall productivity has stalled. It also cites the gap as part of the structural background to income polarisation.