The number of businesses in the country increased by nearly 100-thousand year-on-year in 2023, as more private business owners began managing electronic commerce platforms.

According to data from Statistics Korea on Friday, there were some six-point-24 million businesses last year, up 98-thousand-681, or one-point-six percent from a year earlier.

Wholesale and retail businesses, which account for the greatest proportion of the total, grew in number by three-point-five percent year on year, while the number of associations and other service entities increased five-point-five percent. The number of businesses in the transportation industry rose three-point-eight percent.

Those in the manufacturing sector, on the other hand, declined in number by nine-point-two percent year-on-year.

An official at the statistical agency attributed the rising numbers of wholesale and retail businesses to the popularity of online shopping platforms.

The number of manufacturing businesses, meanwhile, is declining amid a change of industrial structure and China's increasing market share.