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Korea, Dem. People's Rep. — Labor participation
Labor Force Participation Rate for Korea, Dem. People's Rep., 1990–2025.
Latest value · 2025
82.15%
Labor Force Participation Rate · % of population ages 15+ · +0.8% since 1990
Labor participation for Korea, Dem. People's Rep. was 82.15% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 36 years, from 1990 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 82.30% in 1998. The lowest was 80.62% in 2020 (about 1.0× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.02% per year.
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. ranks 7 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 4%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 64.35%, so Korea, Dem. People's Rep. sits above it. It peaked in 1998 and has fallen 0% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 0%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
82.15%
First (1990)
81.49%
Change
+0.8%
Highest
82.30%
in 1998
Lowest
80.62%
in 2020
Average
81.99%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.02%
Years of data
36
Recent years
| Year | % of population ages 15+ |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 82.15% |
| 2024 | 82.16% |
| 2023 | 82.16% |
| 2022 | 82.15% |
| 2021 | 80.71% |
| 2020 | 80.62% |
| 2019 | 82.18% |
| 2018 | 82.18% |
| 2017 | 82.09% |
| 2016 | 82.02% |
| 2015 | 82.08% |
| 2014 | 82.05% |
Reading this correctly. Proportion of the population aged 15 and above that is economically active: supplying labor for the production of goods and services. Figures are in % of population ages 15+. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.TLF.CACT.ZS — Labor Force Participation Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.