Motional conducts autonomous deliveries for Uber Eats in Santa Monica. (Motional)

The number of startups in South Korea dropped 3.4 percent in the first quarter of the year due largely to a one-off factor, government data showed Thursday.

A total of 348,732 startup businesses were set up in the January-March period, compared with 360,846 a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups.

The ministry attributed the decline mainly to a base effect as there had been a sharp increase in the number of newly set-up real estate firms a year earlier.

The number of real estate startups sank 15.6 percent on-year in the three-month period, with that of those in the hospitality industry dropping 5.4 percent.

Excluding the real estate sector, the number of startups was similar to the level a year earlier.

The number of newly established small firms in the information and communication sector climbed 9.6 percent on the back of increased online and contact-free activity, and that of education service companies rose 8.5 percent, the data showed. (Yonhap)