Seoul, March 3 : The number of startups in South Korea fell more than 7 per cent in 2022 from a year earlier amid a sluggish property market, government data showed on Friday. A total of 1.317 million new companies were set up in the country last year, down 7.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups. The ministry attributed the decline largely to tougher rules for the home rental business, falling real estate transactions and low property profits stemming from high interest rates, reports Yonhap news agency. Also responsible was a global economic slump caused by the so-called three highs -- high consumer prices, interest rates and exchange rates, it added. The number of newly established real estate firms tumbled 35.2 percent from a year earlier to 206,000 last year. A total of 67,000 construction companies were newly established last year, down 5.9 percent from the previous year, in the wake of less government spending on infrastructure and rising material costs. The number of new manufacturing firms sank 13.3 percent on-year to 42,000, with that of new hospitality businesses also decreasing 3 percent to 156,000. Yet, the number of newly established retailers and wholesalers went up 7.3 percent on-year to 456,000 thanks to more contactless spending and e-commerce. The data also showed the proportion of technology-based startups came to an all-time high of 17.4 per cent of last year's total, according to the data. /IANS