Wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) in Korea
Korea: Wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) was 74.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) in Korea, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
In 2025, wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) in Korea stood at 74.7%. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 3.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) in Korea peaked at 74.7% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 62.8%, in 1991.
Korea ranks 68th of 187 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) in Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 62.8% | — |
| 1992 | 63.3% | +0.8% |
| 1993 | 63.7% | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 64.1% | +0.7% |
| 1995 | 64.6% | +0.7% |
| 1996 | 65.0% | +0.6% |
| 1997 | 65.3% | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 65.5% | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 65.7% | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 66.0% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 65.6% | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 65.8% | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 66.1% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 66.7% | +0.9% |
| 2005 | 67.2% | +0.8% |
| 2006 | 68.0% | +1.1% |
| 2007 | 68.9% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 69.3% | +0.5% |
| 2009 | 70.3% | +1.5% |
| 2010 | 71.1% | +1.2% |
| 2011 | 71.5% | +0.6% |
| 2012 | 71.3% | -0.3% |
| 2013 | 72.0% | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 72.4% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 72.5% | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 72.5% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 72.7% | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 73.0% | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 73.4% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 73.5% | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 73.6% | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 74.1% | +0.8% |
| 2023 | 74.3% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 74.6% | +0.3% |
| 2025 | 74.7% | +0.2% |
Korea compared with similar countries
- Korea's 74.7% is below the median for high income countries, which is 83.4%, 90% of the median. (62 countries reporting)
- Korea's 74.7% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 60.4%, 1.2× the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 64.4% | 62.8% | 65.7% | 9 |
| 2000s | 67.4% | 65.6% | 70.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 72.3% | 71.1% | 73.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 74.1% | 73.5% | 74.7% | 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 wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) in Korea?
- Wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) in Korea was 74.7% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 74.7% in 2025.
- What is the lowest wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 62.8% in 1991.
- How does Korea rank for wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment)?
- Korea ranks 68th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Korea data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Wage and salaried workers, male (% of male 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
Wage and salaried workers (employees) are those workers who hold the type of jobs defined as "paid employment jobs," where the incumbents hold explicit (written or oral) or implicit employment contracts that give them a basic remuneration that is not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work.