South Korea’s prolonged consumer slowdown is exposing a growing vulnerability for companies and investors: the financial and mental strain on the small-business owners who underpin domestic spending. For U.S. consumer companies and investors, the trend offers another gauge of the depth of South Korea’s demand weakness, with mounting business failures threatening to weigh on consumption even as policymakers seek to stabilize the sector.
The number of self-employed South Koreans who died by suicide reached 1,321 in 2024, up 50.3% from 879 in 2015, according to police statistics and related government data cited on August 20. Self-employed people accounted for 8.9% of all suicides in the country that year.
The increase among the self-employed has far outpaced the broader trend. South Korea’s total number of suicides rose 10.5%, or 1,409 people, between 2015 and 2024, compared with a 442-person increase among the self-employed.
The number rose from 879 in 2015 to 927 in 2017 and 1,031 in 2019. After declining to 925 in 2021, it climbed to 1,179 in 2023 and 1,321 in 2024.
People in their 50s accounted for the largest share of suicides among self-employed workers, at 31.3%, followed by those in their 40s at 29.3% and people 60 and older at 18.8%.
The deterioration has unfolded alongside years of weak business conditions. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated declines in sales and business closures, while the economic slowdown that followed has prolonged pressure on consumer demand and left more small-business owners facing the prospect of shutting down.
The government is responding by expanding mental-health services alongside financial assistance, reflecting a growing recognition that the small-business downturn is not simply a credit or income problem.
The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency is working with the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention to build a broader community-based support network. The program is placing particular emphasis on men in their 50s, a group considered especially vulnerable. Economic difficulties account for 53% of reported suicide motives among men in their 50s, according to the agency.
The organizations have expanded one-to-one links between local small-business support centers and suicide-prevention centers to 61 from 35, a 71.4% increase. The centers will identify people at elevated risk, connect them with professional services, provide prevention education and run community-based support programs.
Local centers will also make the PHQ-9 depression-screening questionnaire available to small-business owners, allowing them to assess their mental-health condition. Those identified as being at elevated risk will be directed to professional counseling and local suicide-prevention services.
The support is also aimed at owners considering a business closure or recovering after shutting down. In cooperation with the Korea Forest Welfare Institute and other organizations, authorities plan to offer programs focused on emotional recovery and preparing for a new start.
Those programs include guided walks, meditation and other wellness activities, as well as one-on-one consulting to help owners cope with the psychological strain of closing a business.
Financial assistance remains a central part of the response. South Korea offers low-interest programs for emergency business stabilization, credit-vulnerable small businesses, entrepreneurs seeking a second start and companies pursuing innovation and growth.
The combination of financial and psychological support reflects the broader economic stakes. A prolonged squeeze on small businesses can reduce household income, accelerate store closures and weaken spending in the neighborhood retail and services sector.
For U.S. companies and investors, the deterioration provides a closely watched indicator of South Korea’s domestic-demand cycle. The ability of small businesses to survive the downturn could influence the pace of any consumer recovery—and the earnings prospects of companies that depend on local spending.
