Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Korea
Korea: Self-employed, female (% of female employment) was 19.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Korea, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Korea recorded 19.4% for self-employed, female (% of female employment) in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.2% on the previous year and down 17.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Korea peaked at 34.8% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 19.4%, in 2025.
That places Korea 119th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 34.8% | — |
| 1992 | 34.3% | -1.4% |
| 1993 | 33.8% | -1.5% |
| 1994 | 33.3% | -1.5% |
| 1995 | 32.8% | -1.5% |
| 1996 | 32.4% | -1.4% |
| 1997 | 31.9% | -1.4% |
| 1998 | 31.7% | -0.8% |
| 1999 | 31.3% | -1.1% |
| 2000 | 30.9% | -1.4% |
| 2001 | 30.8% | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 30.4% | -1.2% |
| 2003 | 29.0% | -4.6% |
| 2004 | 29.2% | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 29.2% | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 28.7% | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 28.2% | -1.7% |
| 2008 | 27.6% | -2.2% |
| 2009 | 26.5% | -3.9% |
| 2010 | 25.7% | -3.2% |
| 2011 | 25.1% | -2.2% |
| 2012 | 24.8% | -1.3% |
| 2013 | 24.3% | -2.0% |
| 2014 | 23.8% | -2.2% |
| 2015 | 23.6% | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 22.8% | -3.4% |
| 2017 | 22.8% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 22.6% | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 22.1% | -2.5% |
| 2020 | 21.7% | -2.0% |
| 2021 | 20.6% | -5.0% |
| 2022 | 20.3% | -1.4% |
| 2023 | 20.0% | -1.6% |
| 2024 | 19.6% | -1.8% |
| 2025 | 19.4% | -1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 32.9% | 31.3% | 34.8% | 9 |
| 2000s | 29.1% | 26.5% | 30.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.8% | 22.1% | 25.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.2% | 19.4% | 21.7% | 6 |
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 self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Korea?
- Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Korea was 19.4% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, female (% of female employment) recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 34.8% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, female (% of female employment) recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 19.4% in 2025.
- How does Korea rank for self-employed, female (% of female employment)?
- Korea ranks 119th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, female (% of female employment) rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Korea data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, female (% of female employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a "self-employment jobs." i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include sub-categories of employers, own-account workers and members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers.