Korea
KR desk: Korea first; United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, euro area, United Kingdom and Australia alongside.
−0.05 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.62% |
| 2024 | 62.67% |
| 2023 | 62.55% |
| 2022 | 61.97% |
| 2021 | 60.27% |
| 2020 | 59.83% |
| 2019 | 60.63% |
| 2018 | 60.36% |
| 2017 | 60.61% |
| 2016 | 60.34% |
| 2015 | 60.36% |
| 2014 | 60.36% |
| 2013 | 59.52% |
| 2012 | 59.22% |
| 2011 | 58.82% |
| 2010 | 58.33% |
| 2009 | 58.20% |
| 2008 | 59.01% |
| 2007 | 59.47% |
| 2006 | 59.46% |
| 2005 | 59.41% |
| 2004 | 59.70% |
| 2003 | 59.07% |
| 2002 | 59.74% |
The employment-to-population ratio is employed people as a percent of the population ages 15+ (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). It does not condition on being in the labour force. Latest: 62.62% in 2025.
It moves with both jobs and demography. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): mean 59.68%, median 59.62%; low 56.02% (1998), high 62.67% (2024).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the employment-to-population ratio for people aged 15 and over: the share of that population who are employed. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It is not the unemployment rate. Students, retirees, people looking after a household and others outside the labour force are all in the denominator, so the ratio can fall even when unemployment is unchanged. The ratio also treats each employed person alike, whether they work an hour a week or a full year.
The indicator is modelled from national labour-force surveys and censuses and is revised when those inputs change. Population age structure and retirement ages differ between economies, so levels are not directly equivalent. The chart shows selected economies over the years you choose, and the ranked ledger shows each economy’s latest published year. Read the direction of travel and the broad level; small differences between neighbouring economies sit within the uncertainty of the estimates. Read it with the participation rate for context.
The Korea desk places Korea first and shows the United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, the euro area, the United Kingdom and Australia alongside, where the indicator covers them. Taiwan appears on every series here for comparison, but the World Bank does not publish Taiwanese labour data, so only the headline unemployment page carries a Taiwanese value, from the IMF World Economic Outlook. The figures are the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates as the all-countries pages, filtered to this desk, and are not recomputed.
Use the Country selector to switch desks, the Chart and Table tabs for the same data two ways, and the range buttons to change the period. Each page names its indicator, source and licence. A blank Taiwanese cell on the youth, sex, participation and employment pages means the source has no published value. Where a Taiwanese value is not published, no estimate is substituted.