Last Year Busan Employment Rate 57.7%... Highest Since 2002

Unemployment Rate Nears Historic Low at 3.1%

"Job Creation and Measures to Address Imbalances Show Effectiveness"

Last year, the employment rate in the Busan area reached its highest level since 2002, signaling signs of change in the job market.

The Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Hyung-jun) announced on the 11th that according to the 2023 December, 4th quarter, and annual employment trends for Busan released by the Southeast Regional Statistics Office on the 10th, Busan's annual employment rate last year recorded the highest level since 2002, and various employment indicators showed favorable trends.

According to the 'Busan Employment Trends,' the annual employment rate for 2023 was 57.7%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from 55.4% in 2000 when statistics began to be compiled, marking the highest figure since 2002. The unemployment rate was 3.1%, down 4 percentage points from 7.1% in 2000, showing the second-lowest figure after the record low of 3.0% in 2022, indicating a steady employment trend.

2023 Annual Employment Trends in Busan.

The annual economically active population in 2023 was 1,746,000, an increase of 16,000 (0.9%) compared to 2022. The economic participation rate was 59.6%, up 0.7 percentage points from 2022, marking the highest level since 2002.

The number of employed persons last year was also 1,691,000, an increase of 13,000 (0.8%) from the previous year, showing the highest figure since 2014, while the number of unemployed was 55,000, the second-lowest figure after the record low of 51,000 in 2022.

Busan City explained that the record-high employment indicators in 2023 were the result of continuous efforts to improve employment indicators by implementing various policies aimed at creating quality jobs and resolving job imbalances.

However, it is expected that future improvements in employment conditions may face limitations due to the industrial structure centered on domestic service industries and the intensifying decline in the working-age population.

Shin Chang-ho, Director of the Digital Economy Innovation Office of Busan City, said, “The city will make every effort to create quality jobs by attracting excellent companies, fostering new growth industries, and revitalizing startups to improve employment indicators.”

Director Shin also emphasized, “We will build a detailed, customized job support system targeting not only youth, elderly, women, and people with disabilities but also the 'sandwiched generation' in their 40s and 50s, to increase the employment rate that citizens can feel.”

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