Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+) in South Korea
South Korea: Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+) was 29,710 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in South Korea, 2014–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 29,710 for labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) in 2025. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.7% on the previous year and up 8.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) in South Korea peaked at 29,710 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 26,922, in 2014.
That places South Korea 10th out of 69 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+) in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 26,922 | — |
| 2015 | 27,316 | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 27,557 | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 27,886 | +1.2% |
| 2018 | 27,995 | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 28,291 | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 28,130 | -0.6% |
| 2021 | 28,435 | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 29,060 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | 29,334 | +0.9% |
| 2024 | 29,517 | +0.6% |
| 2025 | 29,710 | +0.7% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 29,710 is above the median for high income countries, which is 3,811, 7.8× the median. (51 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 29,710 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3,424, 8.7× the median. (10 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 27,661 | 26,922 | 28,291 | 6 |
| 2020s | 29,031 | 28,130 | 29,710 | 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)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 2.96 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.78 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 97,052 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 65,686 (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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) in South Korea?
- Labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) in South Korea was 29,710 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 29,710 in 2025.
- What is the lowest labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 26,922 in 2014.
- How does South Korea rank for labour force (current ilo definition - icls19)?
- South Korea ranks 10th out of 69 countries with data for 2025.
- Is labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.8%. 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 Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).
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 includes only countries for which the 19th ICLS definitions are applied. The labour force is the sum of all persons of working age who are employed and those who are unemployed. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.