Public employment in Korea
Korea: Public employment was 28,600 in 2023. ▲ Rising
Public employment in Korea, 2016–2023
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
Korea recorded 28,600 for public employment in 2023. That is the highest value across all 8 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.1% on the previous year and up 7.5% over ten years.
Korea ranks 7th of 47 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
Public employment in Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 26,600 | — |
| 2017 | 26,900 | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 27,000 | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 27,300 | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 27,100 | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 27,500 | +1.5% |
| 2022 | 28,300 | +2.9% |
| 2023 | 28,600 | +1.1% |
Korea compared with similar countries
- Korea's 28,600 is above the median for high income countries, which is 3,278, 8.7× the median. (36 countries reporting)
- Korea's 28,600 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3,749, 7.6× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 26,950 | 26,600 | 27,300 | 4 |
| 2020s | 27,875 | 27,100 | 28,600 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Korea
More work & labour data for 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 public employment in Korea?
- Public employment in Korea was 28,600 in 2023, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest public employment recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 28,600 in 2023.
- What is the lowest public employment recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 26,600 in 2016.
- How does Korea rank for public employment?
- Korea ranks 7th out of 47 countries with data for 2023.
- Is public employment rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.5%. 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 Public employment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 8 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 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. The total public sector employment covers all employment of general government sector as defined in System of National Accounts 1993 plus employment of publicly owned enterprises and companies, resident and operating at central, state (or regional) and local levels of government. It covers all persons employed directly by those institutions, without regard for the particular type of employment contract. See the working paper: Statistics on Public Sector Employment: Methodology, Structures and Trends. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.