韩国老年自雇人口增长：原因与政策应对

May15, 2025AhnByeongtakJuniorEconomist,Macroeconomic AnalysisTeam, Research Department, Bank of Korea.As a result,they tend to(KRW. Theselivelihood-orientedself-employed workers are Tel. 02-759-5233abt@bok.or.kr 4.Therefore,to mitigate macroeconomic risks associated with the growing trend of self-employmentamong retirees,it is crucial for labor,management,and the government tocollaborate in fostering an environment where older adults can continue workingsecure wagejobsin the long term.One viable strategy is to promote post-retirement reemploymentaccompaniedby wage system reforms(Oh et al.,2025).Simulation results indicate that ifindividuals continue in regular employmentafter retirementbetween ages 60 and 64 at 60percentoftheir earnings from ages 55 to 59, and shift to part-time employment betweenages65 and 69 at 40percentofsaidearnings from ages 55 to 59, the resulting income trajectory closely resembles thatforself-employment.Given the high transition and startup costs, as well as greater income volatilityassociated with entering self-employment,older retirees aredeemed to face significant incentives tochooseregular employment, provided continued work is guaranteed, even if it entails lower earningsthan before.5.In addition, complementary measurescould help alleviate the growing concentration of elderlyindividualsin self-employment,such as by upscaling the service sector to create regularemploymentopportunities tailored to older adults,or enhancing job-matching programsbetween local businesses facing labor shortages and retired seniors.▪Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the authors, and do not necessarilyreflect the official views of the Bank of Korea. When reportingon or citing this paper, theauthors’ names should always be explicitly stated.▪We would like to express our sincere gratitude toDirector GeneralLee Jiho, DirectorKim Minsik, andTeam ManagerYoon Yongjun of the Bank of Korea for their invaluablesupport in preparing this material. Ⅰ. Why Focus on Elderly Self-Employed Workers?1.Following majoreconomicrestructuring in the early 2000s, Korea’s self-employed population hassteadily declined as a share of total employment.[Figure 1]However, this downward trend hasslowedsignificantly since 2015, driven by a sharp increase in the number of self-employedindividuals aged 60 and over.[Figures1 and 2]Structural factors—such as the advancement of theindustrialstructure 1andheightened competition within the self-employment sector—havecontributedto a decline in the share of self-employed workers in total employment, from 27.8percent in 2000 to 19.8percent in 2024.The pace of this decline, however, has varied acrossdifferentperiods: from 2000 to 2014, the share fell by an average of 0.40 percentage points annually, whilefrom 2015 to 2024, the rate of decline slowed to an average ofonly 0.23 percentage points peryear—nearly half the previous rate.The deceleration is primarily attributable tothe sharp rise in self-employed individuals aged 60 and over—a pattern not observed in other age groups—with theirnumbers increasing from 1.42 million in 2015 to 2.10 million in 2024.Furthermore, the share of thoseaged 60 and over among all self-employed workers has climbed to 37.1 percent as of 2024.[Figure 1]Share of Self-Employed by Age Group[Figure 2]Number of Self-Employed by Age GroupNote: 1)Share relative to totalemploymentSources:Economically ActivePopulation Survey byStatistics Korea(KOSTAT),authors’ calculationsSources:Economically ActivePopulation Survey byKOSTAT, authors’calculations2. Consequently, Korea continues to record a high share of self-employed workers relative tothesize of its economy incomparison to other major economies.[Figure4]countries, Korea ranks seventh in self-employment share, significantly surpassing the OECD average.Of the six countries with a higher share of self-employed workers, five—excluding Mexico—have1Geumet al.(2006)viewed the declining share of the self-employment sector—marked by relatively lowproductivity and limited competitiveness—as a natural outcome of theadvancement of theeconomic structure. [Figure 3][Figure 3]Share of Self-Employed by Age GroupNote: 1)Share relative to totalself-employmentSource:Economically ActivePopulation Survey byKOSTATAmong OECD member smaller economies than Korea.[Figure 5]Moreover, the majority of OECD countries report lower self-employmentrates despite having smaller economies than Korea.In advanced economies,theexpansion of large-scale manufacturing and service sectors tends to generate a wider range ofwageand salaryemployment opportunities, thereby reducing reliance on self-employment.By contrast,Korea maintains a comparatively high proportion of self-employed workers.[Figure4]Share of Self-Employed in OECD MemberCountries[Figure5]Share of Self-Employed and NominalGDP in OECD Member CountriesNote: 1) Based on data as of 20232) The OECD includes unpaid family workers in its definition of self-employment, which differs from th