Monthly statistics showing the actual business conditions experienced by small business owners in Seoul—from neighborhood restaurants to local shops—will be released for the first time. Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation announced it will publish the "Seoul Alley Business Trends" report monthly starting this month, capturing self-employed business owners' economic sentiment and challenges.
According to Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation on the 26th, the alley business trends are calculated by analyzing 5,124 cases (as of January) from approximately 15,000 consultation records collected at comprehensive support centers across Seoul's 25 autonomous districts. The index comprises two components: the current month's sentiment index and the following month's outlook index. After each month ends, approximately two weeks of analysis is conducted before release in mid-month. The key advantage is its ability to capture on-the-ground changes far more quickly than existing quarterly or annual statistics.
According to the February report, Seoul small business owners' business sentiment index for January 2025 was 87.5 points (moderate), showing improvement from 73.9 points (poor) in December last year. The February outlook index registered 90.6 points, reflecting expectations for the Lunar New Year holiday sales boost. By sector, food service (92.4 points) showed the highest sentiment, followed by wholesale and retail (86.3 points). All sectors, including services, anticipated improved conditions in February.
By age group, self-employed business owners in their 30s and younger (94.5 points) and 40s (88.6 points) evaluated January conditions relatively positively. However, businesses operating for 5-10 years (82.9 points) and over 10 years (83.5 points) reported lower sentiment due to prolonged economic downturn effects.
"Intensifying competition" was cited as the top business challenge at 51.2%, followed by "rising raw material costs" (23.5%) and "loan repayment and interest burden" (7.0%). Funds received from Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation were primarily used for raw material purchases (46.5%) and operating expenses (31.3%).
Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation emphasized that this is the "only nationwide" data that provides detailed small business sentiment by sector, age, and business tenure based on the largest sample size at the local government level.
"Our foundation's strength lies in capturing vivid, real-time business sentiment from small business owners through our network of 25 district comprehensive support centers," said Choi Hang-do, Chairman of Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation. "Based on these alley business trends, we will develop customized policies to help small business owners achieve sustainable success."
