The number of non-wage workers, such as the self-employed, in South Korea rose 0.56 percent on-year in 2023, data showed.

There were 6.72 million non-salaried workers as of August, up by 38,000 from the same period in 2022, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The number accounts for 23.4 percent of all employed people in the country, down 0.1 percentage point over the cited period.

Of the total non-wage workers, one-man operations, which do not hire workers, inched up 0.8 percent to reach 4.37 million this year.

Some 1.41 million people hired employees to run their businesses and this year’s figure marked 4.4 percent on-year growth. (Yonhap)