Korea
KR desk: Korea first; United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, euro area, United Kingdom and Australia alongside.
−0.11 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 64.35% |
| 2024 | 64.47% |
| 2023 | 64.27% |
| 2022 | 63.79% |
| 2021 | 62.55% |
| 2020 | 62.27% |
| 2019 | 62.99% |
| 2018 | 62.76% |
| 2017 | 62.91% |
| 2016 | 62.63% |
| 2015 | 62.58% |
| 2014 | 62.28% |
| 2013 | 61.40% |
| 2012 | 60.93% |
| 2011 | 60.64% |
| 2010 | 60.33% |
| 2009 | 60.22% |
| 2008 | 60.81% |
| 2007 | 61.32% |
| 2006 | 61.46% |
| 2005 | 61.56% |
| 2004 | 61.82% |
| 2003 | 61.11% |
| 2002 | 61.62% |
Labour force participation is the share of people ages 15 and over who are employed or unemployed (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). It is not the unemployment rate. Latest: 64.35% in 2025.
A falling unemployment rate can coincide with people leaving the labour force. This series is the usual check. From 1990 to 2025 (36 years): mean 61.66%, median 61.46%; low 59.38% (1990), high 64.47% (2024).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the labour-force participation rate for people aged 15 and over: the share who are either employed or unemployed and looking for work. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It measures who is in the labour market, not what they earn, and it is not the same as the employment ratio: unemployed people count in the numerator here but not there.
Participation reflects retirement ages, education, caring responsibilities and social norms as well as job availability, so levels differ for reasons that have little to do with the unemployment rate. The series is modelled from national surveys and censuses and is revised periodically. Use the chart and range buttons to follow one economy and the ranked ledger to compare latest published years. Treat small cross-country gaps with caution, because the estimate carries uncertainty where survey coverage is thin. A fall can mean people left the labour force rather than lost work, so read it with the unemployment rate.
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.