In 2024, the unemployment rate in South Korea was approximately 2.8 percent, up from about 2.7 percent in the previous year. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the economy, causing the unemployment rate to reach its highest point since 2000 in 2020.
Unemployment rate in South Korea from 1990 to 2024
*Figures up to 1999 refer to the unemployment rate of persons aged 15 years or older who were without a job and have actively sought employment during the last one week.
An unemployed person is a person age 15 years or older who was without a job during the survey week but has been actively seeking employment in the past four weeks and is ready to begin work immediately.
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Statistics Korea. (January 17, 2025). Unemployment rate in South Korea from 1990 to 2024 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved March 07, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233053/south-korea-unemployment-rate/?__sso_cookie_checker=failed
Statistics Korea. "Unemployment rate in South Korea from 1990 to 2024." Chart. January 17, 2025. Statista. Accessed March 07, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233053/south-korea-unemployment-rate/?__sso_cookie_checker=failed
Statistics Korea. (2025). Unemployment rate in South Korea from 1990 to 2024. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: March 07, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233053/south-korea-unemployment-rate/?__sso_cookie_checker=failed
Statistics Korea. "Unemployment Rate in South Korea from 1990 to 2024." Statista, Statista Inc., 17 Jan 2025, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233053/south-korea-unemployment-rate/?__sso_cookie_checker=failed
Statistics Korea, Unemployment rate in South Korea from 1990 to 2024 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233053/south-korea-unemployment-rate/?__sso_cookie_checker=failed (last visited March 07, 2025)
Unemployment rate in South Korea from 1990 to 2024 [Graph], Statistics Korea, January 17, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233053/south-korea-unemployment-rate/?__sso_cookie_checker=failed
