Ratio of non-wage workers hits record low in 2021

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The ratio of the self-employed and other non-wage workers in Korea dropped to an all-time low in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Thursday.

Asia's fourth-largest economy had 6.52 million unsalaried workers as of the end of December last year, marking the 23rd consecutive year of decline, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The number accounted for 23.9 percent of the country's total employed people, the lowest tally since data tracking began in 1963.

After peaking at 69.3 percent in 1964, the ratio has been on a steady decline, falling below the 50 percent mark for the first time in 1984.

Of the total non-wage workers, self-employed people numbered 5.51 million last year, with the rest working at family-run operations without pay.

In contrast, there were 20.75 million salaried workers in Korea, taking up 76.1 percent of all workers. The number was up 51.9 percent from 20 years earlier.

Despite its steady decline, Korea's portion of non-wage workers was still higher than that in other major advanced economies, ranking eighth among the comparable 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as of 2019.

Comparable figures were 6.1 percent for the United States and 10 percent for Japan, according to the data. (Yonhap)