Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Korea

Korea: Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) was 29,710 in 2025. β–² Rising

Latest (2025)
29,710
Change on year
up 0.7%
World rank
10th
of 69 countries
All-time high
29,710
in 2025
All-time low
26,922
in 2014
Years of data
12
2014–2025

Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Korea, 2014–2025

010.0k20.0k30.0k2014201920252014: 26.9k2015: 27.3k2016: 27.6k2017: 27.9k2018: 28.0k2019: 28.3k2020: 28.1k2021: 28.4k2022: 29.1k2023: 29.3k2024: 29.5k2025: 29.7k

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

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 Korea peaked at 29,710 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 26,922, in 2014.

That places 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 27,661 26,922 28,291 6
2020s 29,031 28,130 29,710 6

Countries ranked near Korea

  1. 7 Germany 44,246 compare
  2. 8 United Kingdom 35,877 compare
  3. 9 France 31,834 compare
  4. 11 Italy 25,693 compare
  5. 12 Spain 24,829 compare
  6. 13 Canada 22,568 compare

See the full ranking of 69 places β†’

More work & labour data for Korea

All data for Korea β†’

Frequently asked questions

What is labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) in Korea?
Labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) in Korea was 29,710 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) recorded in Korea?
The highest recorded value was 29,710 in 2025.
What is the lowest labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) recorded in Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 26,922 in 2014.
How does Korea rank for labour force (current ilo definition - icls19)?
Korea ranks 10th out of 69 countries with data for 2025.
Is labour force (current ilo definition - icls19) rising or falling in Korea?
Over the last ten years it is up 8.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this 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.

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Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Korea. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/labour-force-current-ilo-definition-icls19-15/korea-rep/

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About this data

Indicator
Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+)
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
69 places, 708 data points, 2014–2025
Last refreshed

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.