Employees in South Korea
South Korea: Employees was 22,318 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Employees in South Korea, 2000–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 22,318 for employees in 2025. That is the highest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and up 15.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, employees in South Korea peaked at 22,318 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 8,769, in 2000.
That places South Korea 16th out of 114 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Employees in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 8,769 | — |
| 2001 | 8,949 | +2.1% |
| 2002 | 9,327 | +4.2% |
| 2003 | 9,446 | +1.3% |
| 2004 | 9,855 | +4.3% |
| 2005 | 10,136 | +2.9% |
| 2006 | 10,456 | +3.2% |
| 2007 | 10,902 | +4.3% |
| 2008 | 11,241 | +3.1% |
| 2009 | 11,459 | +1.9% |
| 2010 | 12,011 | +4.8% |
| 2011 | 12,559 | +4.6% |
| 2012 | 12,894 | +2.7% |
| 2013 | 13,455 | +4.3% |
| 2014 | 13,901 | +3.3% |
| 2015 | 19,402 | +39.6% |
| 2016 | 19,669 | +1.4% |
| 2017 | 19,934 | +1.3% |
| 2018 | 20,084 | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 20,440 | +1.8% |
| 2020 | 20,332 | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 20,753 | +2.1% |
| 2022 | 21,502 | +3.6% |
| 2023 | 21,828 | +1.5% |
| 2024 | 22,043 | +1.0% |
| 2025 | 22,318 | +1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 10,054 | 8,769 | 11,459 | 10 |
| 2010s | 16,435 | 12,011 | 20,440 | 10 |
| 2020s | 21,462 | 20,332 | 22,318 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More work & labour data for South Korea
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 16,840 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 63.91 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 29,824 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 62.02 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 0.9719 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate -0.1065 % change on previous year (2027)
- Legislation on sexual harassment in employment 1 (2023)
- Criminal penalties or civil remedies sexual harassment in employment 1 (2023)
- Women can take the same jobs as men 1 (2023)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 64.4% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is employees in South Korea?
- Employees in South Korea was 22,318 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest employees recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 22,318 in 2025.
- What is the lowest employees recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 8,769 in 2000.
- How does South Korea rank for employees?
- South Korea ranks 16th out of 114 countries with data for 2025.
- Is employees rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Employees. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. Employees are all those workers who hold paid employment jobs, which are those where the incumbents hold employment contracts which give them a basic remuneration not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work. Data disaggregated by economic activity are provided according to the latest version of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) available for that year. Data may have been regrouped from national classifications, which may not be strictly compatible with ISIC. Data disaggregated by occupation are provided according to the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). Data may have been regrouped from the national classifications, which may not be strictly compatible with ISCO. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.