North Korea vs South Korea

North Korea vs South Korea: Armed forces, share of workers

Armed forces, share of workers in 2020: 8.62% of the labour force in North Korea and 2.01% of the labour force in South Korea, by IISS estimates. In 2020 the value was higher in North Korea, by 6.61 percentage points, or 4.3 times that in South Korea.

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% of the labour force · IISS

North Korea vs South Korea: Armed forces, share of workersArmed forces, share of workers in 2020: 8.62% of the labour force in North Korea and 2.01% of the labour force in South Korea, by IISS estimates. In 2020 the value was higher in North Korea, by 6.61 percentage points, or 4.3 times that in South Korea.
North KoreaSouth KoreaWorld

What the numbers say

  • North Korea has been higher in every year both have figures for since 1990.
  • In 2020, North Korea ranked 2 and South Korea ranked 26 of 168 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The world as a whole: 0.79% of the labour force in 2020.

Every year

% of the labour force · IISS

YearNorth KoreaSouth KoreaWorld
20208.622.010.79
20198.492.150.79
20188.532.150.8
20178.62.260.8
20168.672.280.81
20158.192.310.82
20148.272.330.82
20138.342.50.83
20128.422.540.87
20118.52.590.88
20108.582.640.89
20098.672.670.89
20088.232.810.89
20078.312.830.89
20068.42.860.95
20058.52.890.96
20048.592.920.94
20038.532.950.98
20028.622.961
20018.731.01
20008.593.051.07
19998.683.061.09
19988.763.091.13
19978.863.041.15
19968.443.071.18
19959.083.011.2
19948.143.60.94
19938.273.710.98
19929.163.771.03
19919.323.851.03
19909.493.441.11

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • Active-duty military personnel as a share of everyone working or looking for work, by the IISS Military Balance.
  • Source: IISS, The Military Balance, via the World Bank.
  • Ranks count the 168 countries with a value in 2020, highest first.
  • The faint line is the world as a whole, as the same source counts it.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

North Korea vs South Korea

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