Korea
KR desk: Korea first; United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, euro area, United Kingdom and Australia alongside.
−0.08 pp
As of 2025 | % of male labour force
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.68% |
| 2024 | 2.75% |
| 2023 | 2.64% |
| 2022 | 2.72% |
| 2021 | 3.56% |
| 2020 | 3.89% |
| 2019 | 3.87% |
| 2018 | 3.92% |
| 2017 | 3.78% |
| 2016 | 3.73% |
| 2015 | 3.59% |
| 2014 | 3.17% |
| 2013 | 3.26% |
| 2012 | 2.99% |
| 2011 | 3.24% |
| 2010 | 3.66% |
| 2009 | 3.83% |
| 2008 | 3.35% |
| 2007 | 3.44% |
| 2006 | 3.63% |
| 2005 | 3.75% |
| 2004 | 3.66% |
| 2003 | 3.56% |
| 2002 | 3.43% |
Male unemployment is ILO modelled unemployment among men in the male labour force (SL.UEM.TOTL.MA.ZS). Latest: 2.68% in 2025.
Read it next to the female series. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): mean 3.57%, median 3.44%; low 2.31% (1995), high 7.80% (1998).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the unemployment rate for men: men without work who are available for and actively seeking it, as a share of the male labour force. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.UEM.TOTL.MA.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate that uses the same definition as the all-ages rate. It measures joblessness among men who are in the labour market, not the share of men who work. The gap with the female series can reflect joblessness, but it can also reflect differences in participation, because men outside the labour force are not counted as unemployed.
The chart plots annual observations for the economies you select; the range buttons shorten the period and the legend or table adds and removes lines. The ranked ledger shows each economy’s latest published year, and those years differ. Read the two sex series together, and check participation, before drawing a conclusion. The values are modelled estimates built from national surveys and censuses and revised as inputs change, so treat small cross-country gaps with caution.
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.