Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

International Labor Comparisons

Table 20 a & b. Republic of Korea, Hourly compensation costs in manufacturing

Table 20a. Republic of Korea, Hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, U.S. dollars, 2008-2012
Industry ISIC Rev.4 Code 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33)

C
16.85 15.06 17.89 19.25 20.72

Food products, beverages and tobacco

10-12
14.06 12.52 14.80 15.01 15.58

          Food and beverages

10-11
13.78 12.29 14.57 14.80 15.39

                    Food products

10
13.35 11.89 14.04 14.37 14.95

                    Beverages

11
18.64 17.11 21.42 20.29 21.51

          Tobacco products

12
41.54 37.64 38.55 36.94 31.79

Textiles, wearing apparel and leather

13-15
11.35 10.68 12.26 13.78 14.54

          Textiles and wearing apparel

13-14
11.18 10.61 12.18 13.79 14.60

                    Textiles

13
10.70 10.36 11.79 12.71 13.41

                    Wearing apparel

14
11.73 10.90 12.66 15.10 15.95

Leather and related products

15
12.96 11.34 12.96 13.70 14.06

Wood and paper products and printing

16-18
12.60 11.55 13.07 15.41 16.41

          Wood and wood products, except furniture

16
12.30 11.38 12.37 14.60 15.86

          Paper and paper products

17
13.49 12.78 14.49 16.98 18.08

          Printing and reproduction of recorded media

18
11.65 10.11 11.58 13.71 14.36

Coke and refined petroleum products

19
44.67 31.55 46.53 60.70 63.56

Chemicals and pharmaceutical products

20-21
20.97 18.27 21.07 23.08 24.10

          Chemicals and chemical products, except pharmaceuticals

20
21.02 18.15 20.66 23.14 24.25

          Pharmaceutical products

21
20.72 18.71 22.63 22.82 23.47

Rubber, plastics and other non-metallic mineral products

22-23
14.64 12.99 14.74 15.44 16.31

          Rubber and plastics products

22
13.54 12.02 13.75 14.19 15.08

          Other non-metallic mineral products

23
17.08 15.18 16.95 18.38 19.22

Primary and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment

24-25
16.10 14.34 16.84 18.57 19.87

          Basic metals

24
19.83 16.89 20.90 23.26 26.94

          Fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment

25
14.50 13.23 15.01 16.36 16.64

Computer, electronic and optical products

26
17.69 16.29 19.63 21.47 24.30

Electrical equipment

27
14.90 13.39 15.93 17.67 18.49

Machinery and equipment n.e.c.

28
16.26 14.21 15.92 17.16 18.24

Motor vehicles and other transport equipment

29-30
21.99 19.02 23.53 24.50 25.74

          Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

29
20.83 18.79 23.67 23.26 25.87

          Other transport equipment

30
24.04 19.38 23.25 26.93 25.50

Furniture

31
12.94 12.02 13.96 15.52 18.73

Note:
Compensation costs include direct pay, social insurance expenditures, and labor-related taxes.
Data relate to manufacturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Revision 4.
For complete information on definitions, industrial classifications, and data sources, see the technical notes at www.bls.gov/ilc/ichcctn.pdf and country notes at www.bls.gov/ilc/ichccsources.pdf.
'NA' means data not available.
# Break in series. Data are not comparable with data from the previous year.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, International Labor Comparisons, August 2013
 

Table 20b. Republic of Korea, Hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, National currency, 2008- 2012
Industry ISIC Rev.4 Code 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33)

C
18,509.06 19,192.54 20,674.30 21,305.97 23,329.16

Food products, beverages and tobacco

10-12
15,442.74 15,964.44 17,100.07 16,617.45 17,540.09

          Food and beverages

10-11
15,140.98 15,659.28 16,837.16 16,385.38 17,328.25

                    Food products

10
14,670.43 15,160.59 16,227.44 15,907.82 16,840.38

                    Beverages

11
20,476.04 21,810.18 24,752.68 22,456.50 24,228.70

          Tobacco products

12
45,638.96 47,971.04 44,551.99 40,893.42 35,795.99

Textiles, wearing apparel and leather

13-15
12,473.84 13,617.52 14,170.49 15,257.55 16,374.98

          Textiles and wearing apparel

13-14
12,280.96 13,526.84 14,080.86 15,268.62 16,436.35

                    Textiles

13
11,756.88 13,207.38 13,621.03 14,069.48 15,097.40

                    Wearing apparel

14
12,892.21 13,897.54 14,626.24 16,711.50 17,967.25

Leather and related products

15
14,241.26 14,455.62 14,976.47 15,166.86 15,833.01

Wood and paper products and printing

16-18
13,846.27 14,721.93 15,101.68 17,061.05 18,475.72

          Wood and wood products, except furniture

16
13,511.84 14,502.27 14,299.55 16,156.49 17,859.16

          Paper and paper products

17
14,819.00 16,287.98 16,744.75 18,792.05 20,355.59

          Printing and reproduction of recorded media

18
12,804.65 12,891.56 13,386.03 15,177.40 16,173.29

Coke and refined petroleum products

19
49,084.15 40,211.18 53,773.90 67,187.27 71,575.11

Chemicals and pharmaceutical products

20-21
23,041.17 23,292.19 24,345.68 25,545.32 27,145.32

          Chemicals and chemical products, except pharmaceuticals

20
23,092.99 23,129.36 23,874.78 25,609.64 27,307.16

          Pharmaceutical products

21
22,761.99 23,846.61 26,155.61 25,256.35 26,430.82

Rubber, plastics and other non-metallic mineral products

22-23
16,086.50 16,562.28 17,031.76 17,088.61 18,366.62

          Rubber and plastics products

22
14,876.87 15,325.48 15,891.24 15,708.35 16,982.48

          Other non-metallic mineral products

23
18,760.47 19,342.74 19,590.16 20,344.39 21,646.90

Primary and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment

24-25
17,688.56 18,275.75 19,458.44 20,554.02 22,377.10

          Basic metals

24
21,790.45 21,525.96 24,149.54 25,750.33 30,335.74

          Fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment

25
15,935.96 16,857.59 17,343.19 18,110.44 18,739.50

Computer, electronic and optical products

26
19,434.88 20,767.21 22,691.36 23,761.31 27,370.93

Electrical equipment

27
16,368.11 17,063.79 18,411.07 19,558.33 20,819.09

Machinery and equipment n.e.c.

28
17,865.02 18,106.90 18,399.15 18,996.42 20,542.56

Motor vehicles and other transport equipment

29-30
24,162.68 24,237.75 27,200.15 27,124.08 28,991.29

          Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

29
22,887.47 23,945.75 27,351.57 25,743.40 29,133.78

          Other transport equipment

30
26,414.06 24,706.84 26,866.34 29,810.11 28,714.86

Furniture

31
14,222.66 15,320.03 16,130.64 17,182.48 21,089.83

Note:
Compensation costs include direct pay, social insurance expenditures, and labor-related taxes.
Data relate to manufacturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Revision 4.
For complete information on definitions, industrial classifications, and data sources, see the technical notes at www.bls.gov/ilc/ichcctn.pdf and country notes at www.bls.gov/ilc/ichccsources.pdf.
'NA' means data not available.
# Break in series. Data are not comparable with data from the previous year.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, International Labor Comparisons, August 2013