Time required to start a business in South Korea
South Korea: Time required to start a business was 8 days in 2019. ▼ Falling
Time required to start a business in South Korea, 2003–2019
Source: Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in days.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 8 days for time required to start a business in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 17 years on record.
The figure is down 42.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, time required to start a business in South Korea peaked at 17 days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 8 days, in 2012.
That places South Korea 131st out of 188 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.
Time required to start a business in South Korea, year by year
| Year | days | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 17 days | — |
| 2004 | 17 days | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 17 days | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 17 days | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 17 days | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 17 days | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 14 days | -17.6% |
| 2010 | 14 days | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 9 days | -35.7% |
| 2012 | 8 days | -11.1% |
| 2013 | 8 days | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 8 days | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 8 days | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 8 days | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 8 days | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 8 days | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 8 days | +0.0% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 8 days is below the median for high income countries, which is 8.5 days, 94% of the median. (62 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 8 days is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 12.8 days, 62% of the median. (28 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 16.57 days | 14 days | 17 days | 7 |
| 2010s | 8.7 days | 8 days | 14 days | 10 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More reference data data for South Korea
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.9638 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.9281 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 3.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2074 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 3.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 3.23 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 4.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.17 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 19.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.13 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is time required to start a business in South Korea?
- Time required to start a business in South Korea was 8 days in 2019, according to Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest time required to start a business recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 17 days in 2003.
- What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 8 days in 2012.
- How does South Korea rank for time required to start a business?
- South Korea ranks 131st out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
- Is time required to start a business rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Time required to start a business. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business.