Data / Self-employed workers / South Korea

Self-employed workers in South Korea

Self-employed workers in South Korea was 22.7% in 2025, according to the World Bank. That is down 0.2 pts from 2024. That is the 118th highest of 181 countries in 2025.

202522.7%
Change on 2024-0.2 pts
Rank118th of 181Countries ranked
Series high36.31991
Series low22.72025

Next release: Friday, 8 October 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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Self-employed workers in South Korea, 1991 to 2025

2025303540199119962001200620112016202120251991: 36.3 %1992: 35.8 %1993: 35.3 %1994: 34.9 %1995: 34.4 %1996: 34 %1997: 33.6 %1998: 33.4 %1999: 33.1 %2000: 32.7 %2001: 32.9 %2002: 32.7 %2003: 31.9 %2004: 31.6 %2005: 31.3 %2006: 30.7 %2007: 29.9 %2008: 29.5 %2009: 28.4 %2010: 27.6 %2011: 27.1 %2012: 27.1 %2013: 26.5 %2014: 26 %2015: 25.9 %2016: 25.5 %2017: 25.4 %2018: 25.1 %2019: 24.6 %2020: 24.4 %2021: 23.9 %2022: 23.5 %2023: 23.2 %2024: 22.9 %2025: 22.7 %202530354019912003201520251991: 36.3 %1992: 35.8 %1993: 35.3 %1994: 34.9 %1995: 34.4 %1996: 34 %1997: 33.6 %1998: 33.4 %1999: 33.1 %2000: 32.7 %2001: 32.9 %2002: 32.7 %2003: 31.9 %2004: 31.6 %2005: 31.3 %2006: 30.7 %2007: 29.9 %2008: 29.5 %2009: 28.4 %2010: 27.6 %2011: 27.1 %2012: 27.1 %2013: 26.5 %2014: 26 %2015: 25.9 %2016: 25.5 %2017: 25.4 %2018: 25.1 %2019: 24.6 %2020: 24.4 %2021: 23.9 %2022: 23.5 %2023: 23.2 %2024: 22.9 %2025: 22.7 %
%. Source: World Bank (modelled estimate), Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-18, published 2026-10-08.
All 35 values
Period%
202522.7
202422.9
202323.2
202223.5
202123.9
202024.4
201924.6
201825.1
201725.4
201625.5
201525.9
201426
201326.5
201227.1
201127.1
201027.6
200928.4
200829.5
200729.9
200630.7
200531.3
200431.6
200331.9
200232.7
200132.9
200032.7
199933.1
199833.4
199733.6
199634
199534.4
199434.9
199335.3
199235.8
199136.3

South Korea compared with nearby places

United Arab Emirates: 5.1 %Afghanistan: 83.4 %Albania: 50.3 %Armenia: 33.7 %Angola: 75.9 %Argentina: 25.6 %Austria: 12.2 %Australia: 16.1 %Azerbaijan: 67 %Bosnia and Herzegovina: 22.1 %Bangladesh: 61 %Belgium: 14.6 %Burkina Faso: 82.6 %Bulgaria: 11.8 %Burundi: 84.9 %Benin: 79.8 %Brunei: 7.3 %Bolivia: 66.3 %Brazil: 30.3 %Bahamas: 17.1 %Bhutan: 69.5 %Botswana: 28.1 %Belarus: 6.8 %Belize: 35.2 %Canada: 12.9 %Democratic Republic of the Congo: 85.1 %Central African Republic: 85.4 %Republic of the Congo: 76.8 %Switzerland: 16.9 %Côte d’Ivoire: 71 %Chile: 23.9 %Cameroon: 69.3 %China: 37.7 %Colombia: 45.6 %Costa Rica: 26.6 %Cuba: 24.9 %Cape Verde: 38.5 %Cyprus: 10.2 %Czechia: 15.7 %Germany: 8.1 %Djibouti: 51.1 %Denmark: 7.9 %Dominican Republic: 42.1 %Algeria: 30.2 %Ecuador: 52.3 %Estonia: 12.1 %Egypt: 27 %Eritrea: 52.4 %Spain: 14.5 %Ethiopia: 84.3 %Finland: 12.5 %Fiji: 34.1 %France: 13.3 %Gabon: 32.4 %United Kingdom: 13.1 %Georgia: 46.1 %Ghana: 67.5 %Gambia: 68.6 %Guinea: 81.9 %Equatorial Guinea: 27.5 %Greece: 30.5 %Guatemala: 39.1 %Guinea-Bissau: 75.5 %Guyana: 31.1 %Hong Kong: 7.7 %Honduras: 44.1 %Croatia: 12.7 %Haiti: 76.8 %Hungary: 11.6 %Indonesia: 53.3 %Ireland: 13.4 %Israel: 11.3 %India: 74.9 %Iraq: 31.7 %Iran: 42.9 %Iceland: 13.3 %Italy: 21.1 %Jamaica: 35.7 %Jordan: 11.2 %Japan: 9.1 %Kenya: 64.8 %Kyrgyzstan: 30.5 %Cambodia: 55.5 %North Korea: 62.1 %South Korea: 22.7 %Kuwait: 3.2 %Kazakhstan: 26.1 %Laos: 77.1 %Sri Lanka: 42.1 %Liberia: 78.3 %Lesotho: 38.5 %Lithuania: 11.5 %Luxembourg: 10.3 %Latvia: 13.7 %Libya: 25.9 %Morocco: 40.1 %Moldova: 58.8 %Montenegro: 17.4 %Madagascar: 88.3 %North Macedonia: 16.6 %Mali: 76.4 %Myanmar: 65.5 %Mongolia: 41.2 %Mauritania: 57.4 %Mauritius: 17.8 %Malawi: 61.3 %Mexico: 30.8 %Malaysia: 25.4 %Mozambique: 85.3 %Namibia: 36.5 %New Caledonia: 17.1 %Niger: 89.5 %Nigeria: 86.2 %Nicaragua: 44.3 %Netherlands: 16.8 %Norway: 4.9 %Nepal: 78.6 %New Zealand: 18.4 %Oman: 5 %Panama: 40.6 %Peru: 51.3 %French Polynesia: 18.2 %Papua New Guinea: 78.7 %Philippines: 36.1 %Pakistan: 57 %Poland: 18.9 %Puerto Rico: 12.6 %Portugal: 14.4 %Paraguay: 41.3 %Qatar: 0.8 %Romania: 14.5 %Serbia: 27 %Russia: 6.3 %Rwanda: 40.4 %Saudi Arabia: 5.5 %Solomon Islands: 69.9 %Sweden: 10.2 %Singapore: 12.7 %Slovenia: 14 %Slovakia: 14.9 %Sierra Leone: 88.8 %Senegal: 64.3 %Somalia: 52.2 %Suriname: 22.5 %El Salvador: 35.7 %Syria: 42.4 %Eswatini: 30.2 %Chad: 91.6 %Togo: 76.6 %Thailand: 50.7 %Tajikistan: 31.3 %Timor-Leste: 74.9 %Turkmenistan: 32 %Tunisia: 24.9 %Türkiye: 28.5 %Trinidad and Tobago: 25.7 %Tanzania: 85.3 %Uganda: 80.5 %United States: 6.1 %Uruguay: 28 %Uzbekistan: 45.4 %Venezuela: 40.4 %Vietnam: 53.3 %Vanuatu: 60.6 %Samoa: 44.5 %Yemen: 52.6 %South Africa: 17.3 %Zambia: 71.7 %Zimbabwe: 70.8 %
  • Under 13
  • 13 to 23
  • 23 to 34
  • 34 to 51
  • 51 to 72
  • 72 and over
  • No data
Self-employed workers, 2025, %. South Korea is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: World Bank. Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

Rankings

Definition

Employers, own-account workers, members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers, whose pay depends directly on the profits of what they produce, as a percentage of total employment. ILO modelled estimates, ages 15 and over.

ILO modelled estimates: model outputs that fill years without a survey, not survey results. The latest year is a nowcast and is revised as surveys arrive. Includes unpaid family workers, so it is high where small farms dominate and is not a measure of entrepreneurship.

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How to cite

World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-18. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

World Bank. (2026). Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS) (Self-employed workers, South Korea, 1991 to 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS

MLA 9

Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS), Self-employed workers, South Korea, 1991 to 2025. World Bank, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/self-employed-share/south-korea. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

World Bank. 2026. Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). Self-employed workers, South Korea, 1991 to 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/self-employed-share/south-korea.

Harvard

World Bank (2026) Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS), Self-employed workers, South Korea, 1991 to 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/self-employed-share/south-korea (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{world_self_employed_workers_south_2025,
  author = {{World Bank}},
  title = {{Self-employed, total (\% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS): Self-employed workers, South Korea, 1991 to 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/self-employed-share/south-korea. Publisher attribution: World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Self-employed, total (\% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-18. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - World Bank
TI  - Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS): Self-employed workers, South Korea, 1991 to 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/self-employed-share/south-korea
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/self-employed-share/south-korea.
N1  - Publisher attribution: World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-18. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the self-employed workers in South Korea?

Self-employed workers in South Korea was 22.7% in 2025, according to the World Bank. That is down 0.2 pts from 2024. That is the 118th highest of 181 countries in 2025.

Where does this figure come from?

World Bank. Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-18.

What was the highest self-employed workers in South Korea?

36.3% in 1991, the highest value since 1991 in this series.

Self-employed workers in other countries

Related statistics for South Korea

All statistics for South Korea | South Korea in figures