Share of youth not in education, employment or training … modeled in South Korea
South Korea: Share of youth not in education, employment or training … modeled was 11.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in South Korea, 2005–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
In 2025, share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in South Korea stood at 11.0%.
That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 8.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in South Korea peaked at 13.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 10.1%, in 2007.
That places South Korea 144th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Share of youth not in education, employment or training … modeled in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 12.4% | — |
| 2006 | 11.5% | -7.7% |
| 2007 | 10.1% | -11.7% |
| 2008 | 10.3% | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 10.8% | +4.9% |
| 2010 | 10.9% | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 11.2% | +2.5% |
| 2012 | 10.9% | -2.1% |
| 2013 | 10.9% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 10.6% | -3.0% |
| 2015 | 12.1% | +14.0% |
| 2016 | 12.1% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 12.1% | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 12.4% | +2.7% |
| 2019 | 12.5% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 13.3% | +6.5% |
| 2021 | 12.6% | -5.6% |
| 2022 | 11.1% | -11.5% |
| 2023 | 11.1% | -0.6% |
| 2024 | 11.0% | -0.2% |
| 2025 | 11.0% | -0.1% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 11.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 10.6%, 1.0× the median. (62 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 11.0% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 12.8%, 86% of the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11.0% | 10.1% | 12.4% | 5 |
| 2010s | 11.6% | 10.6% | 12.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.7% | 11.0% | 13.3% | 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 share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in South Korea?
- Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in South Korea was 11.0% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 13.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.1% in 2007.
- How does South Korea rank for share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of)?
- South Korea ranks 144th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The share of youth not in education, employment or training (also known as “the NEET rate”) conveys the number of young persons not in education, employment or training as a percentage of the total youth population. Youth not in education are those who were neither enrolled in school nor in a formal training program (e.g. vocational training). For the purposes of this indicator, youth is defined as all persons between the ages of 15 and 24 (inclusive).