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In 2024, the age group of 20 to 29 years old experienced the highest unemployment rate in South Korea. The average unemployment rate stood at *** percent.

Unemployment in South Korea

The unemployment rate refers to the percentage of the economically active population not in employment but actively looking for a job. This does not include the economically inactive population, such as students, pensioners, homemakers, or discouraged workers. With a population of over ** million, South Korea has grown to become one of the world's largest economies, but struggles with increasing unemployment, especially among the youth and elderly. The unemployment situation of young people in South Korea has deteriorated sharply in recent years, while the number of economically active youth has declined steadily over the past decade. On average, young people took more than 11 months to find their first job.

Reasons for youth unemployment

This situation can be attributed to various social, demographic, and labor market-specific factors within the country. Despite the high level of education among youth, more and more companies are demanding concrete work experience from applicants, which is often difficult to acquire within the existing South Korean education system. It should also not be neglected that the retirement age was raised from ** to ** in 2016, but more young people, especially millennials, entered the labor market during this time. 

The dual labor market structure in South Korea, characterized by existing wage gaps between large and small companies, as well as between regular and irregular jobs, is another factor contributing to youth unemployment. While fewer and fewer young people are employed as regular workers, young graduates tend to prefer positions in large companies that offer permanent employment contracts.