SEOUL, Nov. 4 — Non-wage workers in South Korea, including the self-employed and unpaid family workers, rose in August for the first time in three years, driven by a notable growth in business openings among the elderly and young adults, statistical ministry data showed Wednesday.
The number of non-wage workers stood at 6.625 million in August, up 71,000 from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
It marked the first rebound in three years after sliding from 6.724 million in 2023 to 6.657 million in 2024 and 6.554 million in 2025.
With the turnaround, the non-wage workers accounted for 22.7 percent of the country’s total employed population in August, up 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier.
The number of the self-employed with employees increased 47,000 to 1.481 million, and the self-employed without employees grew 62,000 to 4.303 million. The number of unpaid family workers decreased by 37,000 to 841,000.
The growth was led by those in their 30s and senior citizens. The number of non-wage workers in their 30s climbed 55,000 while the youth population aged 15 to 29 saw a gain of 24,000.
Non-wage workers aged 70 and older expanded 23,000 to 965,000, making up 14.6 percent of all non-wage workers. It marked the highest proportion for the age group since relevant data collection began in 2007.(Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
