Korea Ranks Low in OECD in Youth Employment

South Korea ranks low in the OECD in terms of youth employment.

The OECD and Statistics Korea announced on Nov. 19 that South Korea’s youth employment rate was 43 percent in 2018, when the OECD average was 54 percent, and South Korea ranked low in the OECD last year when it comes to the employment rate of those in their 30s and 40s as well.

Last year, South Korea’s employment rate fell from 27.2 percent to 26.2 percent in the case of those aged 15 to 24. It ranked 32nd in the OECD, followed by India, Spain, Italy, Greece and Belgium. The rate was 46 percent and 50.5 percent for Japan and the United States, respectively.

During the period, South Koreans aged 30 to 34 posted an employment rate of 75.4 percent and the rate was 75.8 percent for 35 to 39, 77.4 percent for 40 to 44, and 80.4 percent for 45 to 49 whereas the figures exceeded 80 percent in most OECD member countries. In this category, South Korea was followed by Greece, Italy, Mexico, Turkey, Brazil and India.

On the other hand, South Korea (31.3 percent) ranked second behind Iceland (37.4 percent) when it comes to the employment rate of those aged at least 65. That figure is the highest since records began in 1994 and only the two countries topped 30 percent in the category, in which Japan posted 24.3 percent.

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