A service member attends a job fair in Busan, Nov. 5. Yonhap

The number of Koreans opting to remain economically inactive without specific reasons has gone up by 245,000 this year amid tough job market conditions and economic uncertainties, the statistics agency said Wednesday.

The total number of economically inactive individuals came to 16.21 million as of August, up 48,000 from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.

Economically inactive here means those who remain unemployed but do not seek a job.

Their proportion out of the total population aged 15 and older came to 35.6 percent this year, unchanged from a year earlier.

As for reasons for staying out of work, 36.8 percent, or 5.96 million people, said they were involved in housework, up from 36.5 percent a year earlier. Some 20 percent cited studying and other training to work toward a job or other opportunities, down from 20.4 percent the previous year.

The number of those who said they simply took a break rose to 2.57 million in 2024 from 2.32 million a year earlier. Their proportion also increased to 15.8 percent this year from 14.4 percent in 2023.

Among those in their 20s, in particular, the number of people who remain economically inactive by their own choices rose by 54,000 over the year.

Of the young people who opted to take a break, 30.8 percent, or the largest share, said they had difficulties in finding a desired job, followed by 20.9 percent saying they were preparing for their next step and 16 percent citing health issues.

"We've seen an increasing number of companies reducing regular recruiting and preferring career staff," an agency official said.

All age groups, except for people in their 20s, pointed to their health conditions as a major reason for being out of work, the report showed. (Yonhap)