840,000 Foreign Workers in Korea... Decrease of 15,000 in One Year

Statistics Korea, 2020 Survey on Immigrant Residency Status and Employment Results

Employment Rate 63.7%... Down 1.6%p from Previous Year
Foreign Workers Increase in Overseas Koreans and Marriage Immigrants... Decrease in Visit Employment

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The employment rate has dropped by 1.6 percentage points as the number of foreign workers residing in Korea decreased by 15,000. Although overseas Koreans and marriage immigrants increased, visit employment declined by nearly 26%.

On the 21st, Statistics Korea announced the results of the "2020 Immigrant Residence Status and Employment Survey" containing these details.

This survey on immigrant residence status and employment covers basic items and six common categories including employment, health and informatization, life in Korea, Korean language proficiency, and residence status, targeting foreigners aged 15 and over (20,000 people) and naturalized citizens within the last five years (5,000 people). It also includes characteristic items surveyed for foreigners holding non-professional employment (E-9) and student (D-2, D-4-1, D-4-7) visas.

According to the survey, as of May this year, the number of foreigners aged 15 and over residing in Korea was 1,332,000, an increase of 9,000 (0.7%) compared to the previous year. The number of naturalized citizens residing in Korea aged 15 and over within the last five years was 49,000, a decrease of 200 (-0.4%).

The economically active foreign population was 917,000, up 4,000 (0.4%) from the previous year, but the economic activity participation rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 68.9%. The economically active naturalized citizens numbered 31,000, down 3,000 (-7.4%), with a participation rate dropping 4.9 percentage points to 64.0%.

The number of employed foreigners was 848,000, down 15,000 (-1.8%) from the previous year, with an employment rate of 63.7%, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points. Employed naturalized citizens numbered 29,000, down 3,000 (-9.2%), and the employment rate fell 5.7 percentage points to 59.1%.

By visa status, foreign workers increased in overseas Koreans (11,000; 5.4%), others (11,000; 20.3%), and marriage immigrants (6,000; 10.1%) compared to the previous year, while visit employment (-41,000; -25.9%) and non-professional employment (-10,000; -3.7%) decreased.

By industry, foreign workers increased in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (5,000; 9.2%) and electricity, transportation, communication, and finance (5,000; 37.1%), but decreased in mining and manufacturing (-20,000; -5.0%) and construction (-10,000; -10.0%).

The proportion of foreign wage workers earning 2 million won or more was 67.5%, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous year. Conversely, the proportion earning less than 2 million won rose 0.1 percentage points to 32.5%.

The number of unemployed foreigners was 70,000, an increase of 19,000 (38.2%) from the previous year, with an unemployment rate rising 2.1 percentage points to 7.6%. Unemployed naturalized citizens numbered 2,000, up 400 (20.0%), with an unemployment rate increasing 1.7 percentage points to 7.7%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.