Among the economically inactive population who are neither employed nor unemployed and have no serious illness or disability, the number of people who said they are "just taking a break" rose by more than 70,000 in one year. In particular, the "took a break" population in their 30s increased markedly, suggesting a spread of people giving up job searches because they cannot find the work they want.
According to the results of the "Supplementary survey on the economically inactive and nonwage workers in the August 2025 economically active population survey" that the National Data Office released on the 5th, the economically inactive population not engaged in economic activity stood at 16.22 million as of August this year, up 9,000 from a year earlier. Among them, the "took a break" population was 2.641 million, an increase of 73,000. They accounted for 16.3% of the total economically inactive population, with the share up 0.5 percentage points from last year's 15.8%.
By age group, those in their 60s (36.0%) had the largest "took a break" population, followed by those in their 50s (16.0%), 20s (16.5%), and 30s (12.4%). Among them, the "took a break" population in their 30s was 328,000, up 19,000 from the same month a year earlier, with the share rising 0.4 percentage points, the second-largest increase after those 70 and older (up 1.3 percentage points). However, those in their 20s numbered 435,000, down 3,000, with the share also falling 0.6 percentage points.
Overall reasons for "taking a break" were "because of poor health" (34.9%), "continuing to rest after leaving a job (retirement)" (18.4%), and "because it is difficult to find the desired job (work)" (19.0%), in that order.
The response "because there are no jobs (work)" was 10.8%, up 1.6 percentage points, while "taking a break to prepare for the next job" was 8.2%, down 1.2 percentage points.
By age-specific reasons, among those ages 15 to 29, "because it is difficult to find the desired job (work)" (34.1%) was the most common, followed by "taking a break to prepare for the next job" (19.9%) and "because of poor health" (12.5%).
Among those in their 30s, "because of poor health" (32.0%) was the most common, followed by "difficulty finding the desired job" (27.3%) and "preparing for the next job" (17.4%). In particular, the response "taking a break due to completion of work or expiration of an employment contract" was 4.4%, up 2.7 percentage points from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the economically inactive population intending to find a job or start a business within one year was 3.301 million (20.4% of the total), down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. By gender, men (25.3%) were higher than women (17.3%), and by age, those in their 30s (46.5%) were highest, followed by those in their 20s (43.4%), 40s (32.7%), 50s (28.2%), and 60s (20.0%).
Reasons for hoping to find a job or start a business were led by "to earn living expenses or allowance" (75.3%), followed by "for self-development" (17.1%) and "to use knowledge or skills" (4.0%). The preferred employment type was wage worker at 93.9% and nonwage worker at 6.2%, and by detailed type, full time (67.0%), part time (26.9%), self-employed (5.9%), and unpaid family worker (0.3%).
Reasons for preferring part-time work were "because of health" (37.3%), "to combine with other work or activities" (20.5%), and "childcare or children's education" (19.2%). Factors considered when seeking employment were "working conditions" (31.0%), "income or wage level" (27.5%), and "aptitude or major" (23.8%), and the most common desired average monthly wage was 2 million to less than 3 million won (43.6%).
The population not hoping to find a job or start a business was 12.919 million (79.6%), up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Reasons for not hoping were household duties (24.6%), attending school (studies) or preparing for admission (23.3%), and old age (21.6%), with men citing attending school or admission (33.5%) the most and women citing household duties (37.7%) the most.