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Korean SME size check

Check whether a company counts as an SME, a small enterprise or a micro enterprise under Korean law, from its industry, sales, assets and staff.

Your company

Limits for this industry: SME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 5 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5 employees. The industry with the largest share of sales (Enforcement Decree art. 4). Codes follow the Korean Standard Industrial Classification. Associations (S94), public administration and similar fields have no size criteria.

How to enter sales

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Total sales of the last three business years divided by 3. Sales means sales on the income statement, or operating revenue in some industries (Enforcement Decree art. 7).

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Total assets on the balance sheet at the end of the last business year. A company founded this year uses its assets on the founding date (Enforcement Decree art. 7-2).

Used only for the micro enterprise test. The average of month-end headcounts in the last business year, leaving out executives, day workers, staff on contracts of 3 months or less, dedicated researchers and part-timers under 60 hours a month. Part-timers with 60 hours or more count as 0.5 (Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Micro Enterprises art. 3).

Large business group (designated by the Fair Trade Commission)

A company in a business group subject to disclosure is not an SME, whatever its sales (Framework Act on SMEs art. 2(1) proviso). Groups subject to disclosure have total assets of 5 trillion won or more, and cross-shareholding restricted groups are those among them with assets of 0.5% of GDP or more (Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act art. 31(1)).

Non-profit corporations, venture investment companies, new technology finance companies, technology start-up holding companies and university technology holding companies do not count. Largest shareholder status adds the holdings of that company's executives, or of an individual's relatives (Enforcement Decree art. 3(1)2(b), art. 3-2(3)).

Result

A small enterprise and a micro enterprise.

SMEYes
Small enterpriseYes
Micro enterpriseYes
Average sales1,000,000,000 won

How it was decided

  • Size test (Annex 1): average sales 1,000,000,000 won, limit 100 billion won or lessMet
  • Upper limit: total assets 500,000,000 won, must be under 500 billion wonMet
  • Not in a business group subject to disclosure (Framework Act on SMEs art. 2(1) proviso)Met
  • No company with assets of 500 billion won or more holds 30% or more as largest shareholder (Enforcement Decree art. 3(1)2(b))Met
  • Small enterprise (Annex 3): average sales 1,000,000,000 won, limit 5 billion won or lessMet
  • Micro enterprise: 3 regular employees, must be under 5 (Framework Act on Micro Enterprises art. 2, Enforcement Decree art. 3)Met

If the company belongs to affiliated companies (for example, an externally audited company owns 30% or more of another Korean company as largest shareholder), sales are added up by ownership share and checked again (Enforcement Decree art. 3(1)2(c), art. 7-4, Annex 2). This tool does not add them up, so the answer can change for affiliated companies.

The official SME confirmation certificate is issued on the SME status information system of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (sminfo.mss.go.kr).

Get the SME certificate (opens in a new tab)

Rules used

  • An SME must pass the size test (average sales by industry), the upper limit (total assets under 500 billion won) and the independence test (Framework Act on SMEs art. 2, Enforcement Decree art. 3).
  • The industry limits changed on 1 September 2025 (Presidential Decree No. 35723): seven SME levels from 180 billion to 40 billion won and nine small enterprise levels from 14 billion to 1.5 billion won (Enforcement Decree Annex 1 and Annex 3).
  • Average sales are the last three business years' sales divided by 3. With under 36 months of business, the average of 12-month years is used, and a company founded last year or this year converts its sales to a yearly figure (Enforcement Decree art. 7(2)).
  • The result applies for one year from the day 3 months after the end of the last business year. For a December year-end company, that is 1 April to 31 March of the following year (Enforcement Decree art. 3-3(1)).
  • A micro enterprise is a small enterprise with under 10 regular employees in mining, manufacturing, construction or transport (this tool counts all of section H) and under 5 in other industries. One that grows out of it keeps the status for 3 years from the following year (Framework Act on Micro Enterprises art. 2, Enforcement Decree art. 3).
Limits for every industry

A Agriculture, forestry and fishing

  • A Agriculture, forestry and fishingSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

B Mining and quarrying

  • B Mining and quarryingSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10

C Manufacturing

  • C10 Food productsSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C11 BeveragesSME 80 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C12 Tobacco productsSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C13 Textiles, except apparelSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C14 Wearing apparel, clothing accessories and fur articlesSME 150 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C15 Leather, bags and footwearSME 150 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C16 Wood and wood products, except furnitureSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C17 Pulp, paper and paper productsSME 180 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C18 Printing and reproduction of recorded mediaSME 80 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C19 Coke, briquettes and refined petroleum productsSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 14 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C20 Chemicals and chemical products, except pharmaceuticalsSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C21 Medicinal substances and pharmaceuticalsSME 80 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C22 Rubber and plastic productsSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C23 Other non-metallic mineral productsSME 80 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C24 Basic metalsSME 180 billion won or less, small enterprise 14 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C25 Fabricated metal products, except machinery and furnitureSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C26 Electronic components, computers, video, audio and communication equipmentSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C27 Medical, precision and optical instruments, watches and clocksSME 80 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C28 Electrical equipmentSME 180 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C29 Other machinery and equipmentSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C30 Motor vehicles and trailersSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C31 Other transport equipmentSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C32 FurnitureSME 150 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C33 Other manufacturingSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C34 Repair of industrial machinery and equipmentSME 60 billion won or less, small enterprise 1.5 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10
  • C30393 · C31202 · C31322 New car seats, railway vehicle seats and aircraft seatsSME 150 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10

D Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

  • D Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supplySME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

E Water supply, sewage, waste treatment and materials recovery

  • E36 Water supplySME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 12 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5
  • E37~E39 Sewage, waste treatment and materials recovery, except water supplySME 80 billion won or less, small enterprise 4 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

F Construction

  • F ConstructionSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 8 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10

G Wholesale and retail trade

  • G Wholesale and retail tradeSME 120 billion won or less, small enterprise 6 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

H Transportation and storage

  • H Transportation and storageSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 10 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 10

I Accommodation and food service

  • I Accommodation and food serviceSME 40 billion won or less, small enterprise 1.5 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

J Information and communication

  • J Information and communicationSME 100 billion won or less, small enterprise 5 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

K Finance and insurance

  • K Finance and insuranceSME 40 billion won or less, small enterprise 10 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

L Real estate

  • L Real estateSME 40 billion won or less, small enterprise 4 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

M Professional, scientific and technical services

  • M Professional, scientific and technical servicesSME 60 billion won or less, small enterprise 3 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

N Business facilities management, business support and rental services

  • N74~N75 Business facilities management and business support services, except rentalSME 80 billion won or less, small enterprise 3 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5
  • N76 Rental and leasing, except real estateSME 40 billion won or less, small enterprise 3 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

P Education

  • P Education servicesSME 40 billion won or less, small enterprise 1.5 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

Q Human health and social work

  • Q Human health and social work servicesSME 60 billion won or less, small enterprise 1.5 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

R Arts, sports and recreation services

  • R Arts, sports and recreation servicesSME 60 billion won or less, small enterprise 3 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

S Associations, repair and other personal services

  • S95~S96 Repair and other personal services, except associationsSME 60 billion won or less, small enterprise 1.5 billion won or less, micro enterprise under 5

This page restates the law as a guide and is not legal advice. For an official decision, get the SME confirmation certificate.

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