Sports industry sales surpass KRW 81 trillion, the highest ever in the sports industry in 2023 (Ministry of Culture and Sports)
Jan 08, 2025
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The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) announced the main results of the 2023 「Sports Industry Survey」 on the 8th. The Sports Industry Survey is a national approved statistical survey under Article 7 of the Sports Industry Promotion Act and Article 18 of the Statistics Act and has been conducted since 2010 to understand the size and management status of the sports industry. The survey was conducted on 14,006 samples out of 126,186 companies in parallel with visits, faxes, and e-mail surveys.
As of 2023, the major indicators of the sports industry reached an all-time high. Sales rose 3.7 percent year-on-year to 81 trillion won, while the number of workers rose 4.1 percent year-on-year to 458,000. The number of businesses was also 126,186, up 4.6% year-on-year. By industry, sales in the sports goods industry increased 4.7%, showing the highest growth rate, while the sports service industry grew 3.9%, and the sports facility industry grew 2.0%.
Within the goods industry, sales growth in the distribution sector was remarkable, including a 9.7% increase in sports-related non-store retail (online sales), a 9.3% increase in sports shoe wholesale, and a 6.3% increase in sports and sports equipment retail. In the manufacturing sector, sports and sports equipment manufacturing rose 7.1%, camping textile products manufacturing (tent, etc.) rose 6.1%, and sports shoe manufacturing rose 5.0%.
In the service industry, sales rose 25.0% of the sports agent industry (athlete manager), 20.6% of the sports game industry (professional baseball team, professional soccer team, etc.), 15.3% of other sports education institutions (football class, gymnastics class, etc.), 14.8% of the sports travel industry (overseas golf travel, etc.), and 11.8% of martial arts education institutions (judo, boxing, etc.).
In the facility industry, sales grew 17.6% of other sports facilities (tennis courts, table tennis courts, etc.), 15.6% of other water sports facilities (leisure boat anchoring facilities, recreational fishing boats, etc.), 13.7% of outdoor stadium operations (football courts, baseball stadiums, etc.), 7.5% of gyms, 7.2% of swimming pools, and 6.9% of golf driving ranges.
Starting with sales exceeding 81 trillion won in 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to expand the size of the sports industry to 105 trillion won by 2028. In order to solve the industry's difficulties caused by the high exchange rate and economic slowdown, the loan support budget has been greatly expanded from 163.7 billion won in 2024 to 248 billion won in 2025, and a total of 30 billion won will be invested to create a sports industry fund. Following the passage of the amendment to the National Sports Promotion Act on December 31 last year, the scope of loan support will also be greatly expanded to equipment and service industries. In order to strengthen the international competitiveness of sports companies, it plans to establish a fund to invest heavily in export companies (7 billion won in government investment), expand support for overseas exhibitions and export consultations, and support for international broadcasting of promising sports companies (20 episodes, 1 billion won).
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Policy Officer said, "As of 2023, the size of Korea's sports industry has exceeded the pre-COVID-19 level, the highest ever""In 2024, the number of visitors to professional sports exceeded 10 million for the first time ever, and the national participation rate in sports has continued to grow since COVID-19 from 60.1% in 2020 to 62.4% in 2023."From July of this year, if fees for using swimming pools and gym facilities are included in the income deduction, people's participation in sports will increase further, and related industries will grow." "To achieve the market size of KRW 105 trillion by 2028, the Ministry of Culture will expand loans and export support for the sports industry and continue to upgrade the support system for sports enterprises."It expressed its policy will.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
