Employment by professional status (ICSE-93) in Korea
Korea: Employment by professional status (ICSE-93) was 28,769 Persons in 2025. ▲ Rising
Employment by professional status in Korea, 1983–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Persons.
Analysis
The most recent figure for employment by professional status in Korea is 28,769 Persons, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 43 years on record.
The figure is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 9.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, employment by professional status in Korea peaked at 28,769 Persons in 2025 and was at its lowest, 14,429 Persons, in 1984.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Employment by professional status (ICSE-93) in Korea, year by year
| Year | Persons | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 14,505 Persons | — |
| 1984 | 14,429 Persons | -0.5% |
| 1985 | 14,970 Persons | +3.8% |
| 1986 | 15,505 Persons | +3.6% |
| 1987 | 16,354 Persons | +5.5% |
| 1988 | 16,869 Persons | +3.2% |
| 1989 | 17,561 Persons | +4.1% |
| 1990 | 18,085 Persons | +3.0% |
| 1991 | 18,649 Persons | +3.1% |
| 1992 | 19,009 Persons | +1.9% |
| 1993 | 19,234 Persons | +1.2% |
| 1994 | 19,848 Persons | +3.2% |
| 1995 | 20,414 Persons | +2.9% |
| 1996 | 20,853 Persons | +2.1% |
| 1997 | 21,214 Persons | +1.7% |
| 1998 | 19,937 Persons | -6.0% |
| 1999 | 20,291 Persons | +1.8% |
| 2000 | 21,173 Persons | +4.3% |
| 2001 | 21,614 Persons | +2.1% |
| 2002 | 22,232 Persons | +2.9% |
| 2003 | 22,222 Persons | -0.0% |
| 2004 | 22,682 Persons | +2.1% |
| 2005 | 22,831 Persons | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 23,188 Persons | +1.6% |
| 2007 | 23,561 Persons | +1.6% |
| 2008 | 23,775 Persons | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 23,688 Persons | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 24,033 Persons | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 24,526 Persons | +2.1% |
| 2012 | 24,955 Persons | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 25,299 Persons | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 25,897 Persons | +2.4% |
| 2015 | 26,178 Persons | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 26,409 Persons | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 26,725 Persons | +1.2% |
| 2018 | 26,822 Persons | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 27,123 Persons | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 26,904 Persons | -0.8% |
| 2021 | 27,273 Persons | +1.4% |
| 2022 | 28,089 Persons | +3.0% |
| 2023 | 28,416 Persons | +1.2% |
| 2024 | 28,576 Persons | +0.6% |
| 2025 | 28,769 Persons | +0.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 15,742 Persons | 14,429 Persons | 17,561 Persons | 7 |
| 1990s | 19,754 Persons | 18,085 Persons | 21,214 Persons | 10 |
| 2000s | 22,696 Persons | 21,173 Persons | 23,775 Persons | 10 |
| 2010s | 25,797 Persons | 24,033 Persons | 27,123 Persons | 10 |
| 2020s | 28,004 Persons | 26,904 Persons | 28,769 Persons | 6 |
Countries ranked near Korea
- 1 United States 163,493 Persons compare
- 1 Türkiye 32,569 Persons compare
- 2 Poland 17,241 Persons compare
- 2 Brazil 103,224 Persons compare
- 3 Netherlands 9,899 Persons compare
- 3 Russia 70,601 Persons compare
- 3 Croatia 1,702 Persons compare
- 4 Japan 68,280 Persons compare
- 4 Lithuania 1,463 Persons compare
More work & labour data for Korea
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 32 - Employment by 1,235 Persons (2022)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 32 - Employment by 2,220 Persons (2022)
- Patents - international collaboration in technology development 41,123 Co-inventions (2023)
- Employment and unemployment by five-year age group and sex - levels 28,769 Persons (2025)
- Unemployed population — Unemployment 830.02 Persons (2025)
- Average annual hours actually worked per worker — Hours worked 1,833 Hours per year per person (2025)
- Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment 22,318 Persons (2025)
- Incidence of unemployment by duration 58.51 Percentage of population in the same subgroup (2025)
- Annual population and employment, national concept — Total employment 28,576 Persons (2024)
- Monthly unemployment levels 830.02 Persons (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is employment by professional status in Korea?
- Employment by professional status in Korea was 28,769 Persons in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest employment by professional status recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 28,769 Persons in 2025.
- What is the lowest employment by professional status recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 14,429 Persons in 1984.
- How does Korea rank for employment by professional status?
- Korea ranks 1st out of 3 groups with data for 2025.
- Is employment by professional status rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Employment by professional status (ICSE-93). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The dataflow "Employment by profesional status (ICSE-93)" is a subset of the “Employment by activites and status (ALFS)” dataset which presents annual labour force statistics for OECD member countries, Brazil and 4 geographical areas (Major Seven, Euro zone, European Union and OECD-Total). This dataflow contains employment statistics for all economic activities broken down by professional status as defined by the ICSE-1993 including employees, employers and own-account workers, and unpaid family workers. Economic activities are defined according to the Major divisions of the International standard International Classification (ISIC) Rev. 4 with the exception of the United-States wich compiled since 2003, employment data by sector following the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS); NAICS sector are then proxied to ISIC Rev. 4 and are therefore not strictly comparable with other countries’ data. The professional status is defined in the International Classification by status in Employment (ICSE-1993). To be considered as an unpaid family worker, the hour-threshold varies from one hour to 18 hours a week. Data are presented in thousands of persons, or as indices with base year 2015=100. Annual data in this dataset are typically calculated as averages of infra-annual estimates. This can lead to differences with annual data published by National Statistics Institutes.