A new survey finds that corporate financial support for culture and the arts has dropped for the second consecutive year in the wake of the sluggish economy.

According to the survey conducted by the Korean Business Council for the Arts on the nation’s top 500 companies and some 70 member firms of the business council, cash support for arts and culture stood at around 157-point-six billion won last year, which was down five percent from 2008.

The number of companies that provided such funds also shrank ten percent to 420 from 469 in 2008.

The business council said the amount of financial support dropped following the prolonged economic recession and the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza last year.