Unemployment in Korea
The Republic of Korea's unemployment rate over the last decade was muted by global and developed economy standards. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a brief increase in unemployment, but South Korea's effective response and economic recovery measures led to a quick rebound. By 2022, the unemployment rate was back to below pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the strength of South Korea's job market.
In the year 2024, the unemployment in Korea was 2.80%, compared to 3.49% in 2014 and 2.71% in 2023. It averaged 3.46% over the last decade. For more unemployment information, visit our dedicated page.
Korea Unemployment Chart
Note: This chart displays Unemployment Rate for Korea from 2024 to 2014.
Source: Macrobond.
Korea Unemployment Data
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment (% of active population, aop) | 3.9 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Unemployment (% of active population, eop) | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Korean unemployment projections for the next ten years from a panel of 16 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable unemployment forecast available for Korean unemployment.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Korean unemployment projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of Korean unemployment forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.