Businesses’ social contribution expenditures see a 20% YoY increase

Despite the prolonged economic slowdown, major companies in Korea have reported the highest level of social contributions since record-keeping began.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) disclosed the amount spent on social contributions based on a survey of 500 companies ranked by revenue and another survey of 299 companies that published sustainable management reports.

These companies reported a total expenditure of 3.54 trillion won for social contributions. This translates to an average of 15.31 billion won per company, representing increases of 20.9 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. The FKI noted that this marks the highest amount recorded since the statistics were first compiled in 1993.

Among the surveyed companies, 63.5 percent experienced a year-on-year increase in social contribution spending. Additionally, 39.8 percent of companies reported an increase of more than 25 percent in their social contribution expenditures. The primary reasons for increased spending were a temporary rise in costs due to emergency relief, national events, or other imminent issues (23.3 percent), increased investment in major social contribution programs, and the launch of new programs (21.7 percent). The heightened demand for social assistance stems from the Covid-19 pandemic (17.5 percent).

The FKI also collected the Business Survey Index (BSI) for the top 600 revenue-based companies, revealing a January 2024 BSI of 91.1, a decrease from the previous month. The BSI has consistently remained below 100, the standard baseline, since April 2022, when it recorded 99.1.


Do-Young Kwak now@donga.com