According to the latest report jointly released by the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), the revenue of South Korea's cloud computing industry reached 7.39 trillion won in 2023, marking a 26.6% increase compared to the previous year.
This growth is primarily attributed to the popularity of generative artificial intelligence and the increased usage of cloud services. The report surveyed 2,389 cloud computing companies and found that the number of these companies grew by 18.3% compared to 2022. This year, the revenue growth rate of the cloud computing industry improved by 8 percentage points compared to the 18.6% growth from 2021 to 2022.
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The report analysis pointed out that the factors driving market expansion include accelerated digital transformation, widespread application of generative AI, and increased acceptance of cloud services by traditionally conservative industries. Specifically, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 93.0% of the cloud computing industry, totaling 2,222 companies, while there were 127 medium-sized enterprises (5.3%) and 40 large enterprises (1.7%).
In terms of service types, the number of Software as a Service (SaaS) companies was the highest, with 1,642 companies accounting for 68.7%; followed by Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) with 436 companies (18.3%); Platform as a Service (PaaS) companies numbered 157 (6.6%), and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) totaled 94 (3.9%). Notably, the number of MSP companies grew by 44.6%, making it the fastest-growing category, with MSP revenues also increasing by 73.5%, significantly outpacing the growth rates of IaaS (23.9%), SaaS (21.3%), and PaaS (18.7%).
Among different types of cloud services, hybrid cloud generated the highest revenue at 3.1 trillion won, accounting for 42.2%; followed by public cloud with revenues of 2.6 trillion won (35.0%), and private cloud revenues at 1.7 trillion won (22.8%). As of 2023, the total number of employees in the cloud computing industry reached 30,654, an increase of 4,069 (15.3%) from last year. However, the report also noted that with the rapid development of the industry, the demand for skilled talent continues to rise, and there are still challenges in training and recruiting these talents.
Key Points:
📈 Cloud computing industry revenue reached 7.39 trillion won, a year-on-year increase of 26.6%.
💼 SMEs account for 93%, with the highest number of Software as a Service (SaaS) companies.
👥 The number of employees in the cloud computing industry increased to 30,654, but challenges remain in talent training.