The “resting” population, those who stayed idle without job-seeking activity, fell to 2.551 million this August, down 89,000 from a year earlier, turning to a decline for the first time in four years. The number fell among those in their 30s to 50s on improved employment conditions, but many in their 20s moved into categories such as school attendance or taking classes.
The National Data Agency said so in its “Results of the August 2026 Economically Active Population Survey Supplement on Non-wage Workers and the Economically Inactive,” released on the 4th. The resting population has grown every year, from 2.239 million in 2022 to 2.322 million in 2023, 2.567 million in 2024 and 2.641 million in 2025.
By age group, the share of the resting population was 37.9% for those in their 60s, up 1.9 percentage points, and 10.1% for those aged 70 and over, up 1.8 points. In contrast, those in their 20s fell 1.7 points to 14.8% and those in their 50s fell 1.6 points to 14.4%. Reasons for resting also varied by age. Those aged 15 to 29 (35.2%) and those in their 30s (32.3%) most often cited “difficulty finding a desired job,” while for the other age groups the top reason was “poor health.”
“The resting population fell in all age groups from the 20s to the 50s. For those in their 30s to 50s, it declined as the employment situation improved, whereas those in their 20s moved within the economically inactive population to school attendance or taking classes, so it is not a meaningful decline,” an agency official explained. “Among those aged 60 and over, it increased owing to population aging and loss of willingness to work, despite the effects of government job measures.”
The total economically inactive population was 16.297 million, up 77,000. Its share of the population aged 15 and over was 35.4%, unchanged from the previous year. By age, the shares were highest for those aged 70 and over (29.4%), those in their 60s (19.0%) and those aged 15 to 19 (13.1%). By activity status, housework (37.0%) was the largest, followed by school attendance or classes (20.6%) and resting (15.7%).
The economically inactive population wanting to find a job or start a business within a year was 3.24 million, a share of only 19.9%. The figure fell 0.5 percentage points and is the third lowest since statistics began in 2016. It has been falling for the fifth year since peaking at 23.8% in 2021. As reasons for wanting to work, “to earn living expenses or pocket money” was the most common at 76.1%, followed by “for self-improvement and personal development” (16.7%) and “to use knowledge or skills” (4.2%).
The most desired average monthly wage was 2 million won or more but less than 3 million won at 42.8%, followed by 3 million won or more (30.4%) and 1 million won or more but less than 2 million won (19.6%). By gender, men most wanted 3 million won or more (42.0%), while women most wanted 2 million won or more but less than 3 million won (45.5%).
Non-wage workers, which include the self-employed and unpaid family workers, numbered 6.625 million as of August, up 71,000. Their share of total employed people was 22.7%, up 0.1 percentage point. Non-wage workers planning to continue their current business were 86.6%, up 0.1 point, while those planning to quit were 5.0%, down 0.3 point. Self-employed people planning to close cited personal reasons (41.4%), no prospects or poor business (35.8%) and switching to a better line of business (8.1%) as reasons.