Top four groups still make up more than half of Korea’s top 30 wealth

[Courtesy of each company]

South Korea’s four top conglomerates - Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG - have consistently occupied more than 50 percent of the total assets of the country’s top 30 business groups over the past decade, showing the continued asset concentration in the industry.

According to a report on the top 30 business groups from 2008 to 2022 released by Leaders Index on Tuesday, their total assets amounted to 2,373.72 trillion won ($1.82 trillion) last year, up 154.8 percent from 931.73 trillion won in 2008. The total assets of the four largest groups increased by 201.8 percent, to 1,255.7 trillion won over the same period. The share of assets accounted for by the four groups among the 30 largest groups rose steadily each year from 44.6 percent in 2008 to over 50 percent in 2013. It then rose to 54.7 percent in 2020, before dropping slightly to 54.2 percent in 2021 and 52.9 percent in 2022.

Revenue of the 30 largest business groups nearly doubled to 1,871.71 trillion won last year from 939.62 trillion won in 2008, while the revenue of the top four groups increased by 117.6 percent to 1,032.39 trillion won from 474.35 trillion won over the same period. The share of revenue accounted for by the Big 4 among the 30 largest groups also increased by 4.7 percentage points, to 55.2 percent in 2022 from 50.5 percent in 2008.

Compared to the growth in assets and revenue, employment did not increase significantly. Employment in the top 30 groups grew only 50.2 percent, to 1.4 million last year from 932,485 in 2008. This was well below the growth in assets and revenue over the same period. The four largest groups accounted for 53.2 percent of all employment among the top 30 groups last year, up 5.5 percentage points from 47.7 percent in 2008.

In terms of assets, Shinsegae Group has grown the most over the past 14 years. Shinsegae Group’s total assets inflated by 405.9 percent to 60.49 trillion won last year from 11.95 trillion won in 2008. Shinsegae Group was followed by SK Group with an asset growth of 281.0 percent, Hanwha Group 239.3 percent, CJ Group 230.2 percent and Hyundai Motor Group 211.5 percent.