7 in 10 foreign shop owners in Korea are Chinese nationals
Chinese nationals account for more than 70 percent of foreign owners of small businesses in South Korea, highlighting how one group has come to dominate the country’s foreign-operated service economy, according to a government-affiliated research institute.
A report released Monday by the Korea Immigration Service Foundation found that 72.5 percent of foreign small business owners registered as individual merchants with Shinhan Card as of June were Chinese nationals. The next largest groups were Americans at 6.2 percent, Canadians at 3.7 percent and Taiwanese at 3.1 percent. The remaining share consisted of Europeans and other Asian nationalities.
The analysis covered 10,323 foreign-owned storefronts across the country, including restaurants, bars, hair salons, grocery shops and private academies.
The vast majority of foreign-operated establishments generated annual revenue below 300 million won, the threshold for being classified as a microbusiness. The report also identified a small group of high-earning foreign proprietors in districts such as Seoul’s Gangnam and Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, where yearly sales exceeded 1 billion won.
Taiwanese shop owners showed the longest business survival, operating for an average of 104.3 months. Americans and Canadians also recorded relatively long tenures, each averaging more than five years.
Chinese owners, by comparison, operated for an average of 43.8 months, below the overall average of 48.1 months.
The institute said this pattern may reflect demographic changes in Korea’s foreign resident population. Earlier generations of long-term residents were more likely to be Taiwanese or Korean Americans, while recent revisions to the Overseas Koreans Act have led to a sharp increase in migration from China and from member states of the former Soviet Union.
Food, beverage and nightlife businesses made up 61.5 percent of all foreign-run establishments. Beauty services accounted for 11.1 percent, groceries for 5.9 percent, private education for 3.9 percent and medical services for 3.6 percent.
Business profiles differed by nationality. Entrepreneurs from China, Taiwan and Uzbekistan were concentrated in food and nightlife, while Americans and Canadians were more active in education and health care.
Overall, 73.9 percent of foreign-owned businesses earned less than 300 million won a year. About 11.8 percent reported between 300 million and 500 million won, 10.1 percent earned between 500 million and 1 billion won, and 4.1 percent earned between 1 billion and 3 billion won. Only 0.1 percent exceeded 3 billion won in annual revenue.
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