Youth employees (15-29) in South Korea
South Korea: Youth employees (15-29) was 3,138 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Youth employees in South Korea, 2015–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
The most recent figure for youth employees in South Korea is 3,138, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of down 4.1% on the previous year and down 7.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, youth employees in South Korea peaked at 3,503 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 3,138, in 2025.
South Korea ranks 21st of 95 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Youth employees (15-29) in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3,395 | — |
| 2016 | 3,440 | +1.3% |
| 2017 | 3,468 | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 3,464 | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 3,503 | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 3,268 | -6.7% |
| 2021 | 3,383 | +3.5% |
| 2022 | 3,498 | +3.4% |
| 2023 | 3,398 | -2.9% |
| 2024 | 3,270 | -3.8% |
| 2025 | 3,138 | -4.1% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 3,138 is above the median for high income countries, which is 674.27, 4.7× the median. (43 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 3,138 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3,194, 98% of the median. (10 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3,454 | 3,395 | 3,503 | 5 |
| 2020s | 3,326 | 3,138 | 3,498 | 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 youth employees in South Korea?
- Youth employees in South Korea was 3,138 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest youth employees recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 3,503 in 2019.
- What is the lowest youth employees recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 3,138 in 2025.
- How does South Korea rank for youth employees?
- South Korea ranks 21st out of 95 countries with data for 2025.
- Is youth employees rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Youth employees (15-29). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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. Employees are all those workers who hold paid employment jobs, which are those where the incumbents hold employment contracts which give them a basic remuneration not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work. Type of job contract refers to permanent versus temporary (i.e. short-term or casual) contracts. For more information, refer to the Youth Labour Market Indicators (YouthSTATS) database description.