Total factor productivity in South Korea
South Korea: Total factor productivity was 0.9769 in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
0.9769
Change on year
down 2.1%
World rank
84th
of 120 countries
All-time high
1
in 2021
All-time low
0.3917
in 1957
Years of data
67
1957–2023
Total factor productivity in South Korea, 1957–2023
Source: Feenstra et al. – Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 0.9769 for total factor productivity in 2023.
That represents a change of down 2.1% on the previous year and up 1.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, total factor productivity in South Korea peaked at 1 in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.3917, in 1957.
That places South Korea 84th out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 67 years of available data.
Total factor productivity in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 0.3917 | — |
| 1958 | 0.4044 | +3.2% |
| 1959 | 0.4142 | +2.4% |
| 1960 | 0.4206 | +1.5% |
| 1961 | 0.424 | +0.8% |
| 1962 | 0.4191 | -1.2% |
| 1963 | 0.4255 | +1.5% |
| 1964 | 0.4527 | +6.4% |
| 1965 | 0.4478 | -1.1% |
| 1966 | 0.47 | +5.0% |
| 1967 | 0.4612 | -1.9% |
| 1968 | 0.4635 | +0.5% |
| 1969 | 0.4882 | +5.3% |
| 1970 | 0.5101 | +4.5% |
| 1971 | 0.5294 | +3.8% |
| 1972 | 0.5329 | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 0.5677 | +6.5% |
| 1974 | 0.5773 | +1.7% |
| 1975 | 0.5822 | +0.8% |
| 1976 | 0.5979 | +2.7% |
| 1977 | 0.6081 | +1.7% |
| 1978 | 0.5978 | -1.7% |
| 1979 | 0.59 | -1.3% |
| 1980 | 0.5462 | -7.4% |
| 1981 | 0.5482 | +0.4% |
| 1982 | 0.555 | +1.2% |
| 1983 | 0.5901 | +6.3% |
| 1984 | 0.6194 | +5.0% |
| 1985 | 0.6243 | +0.8% |
| 1986 | 0.6411 | +2.7% |
| 1987 | 0.6644 | +3.6% |
| 1988 | 0.6931 | +4.3% |
| 1989 | 0.6962 | +0.5% |
| 1990 | 0.711 | +2.1% |
| 1991 | 0.728 | +2.4% |
| 1992 | 0.7266 | -0.2% |
| 1993 | 0.7294 | +0.4% |
| 1994 | 0.7416 | +1.7% |
| 1995 | 0.754 | +1.7% |
| 1996 | 0.7622 | +1.1% |
| 1997 | 0.7742 | +1.6% |
| 1998 | 0.7558 | -2.4% |
| 1999 | 0.8046 | +6.5% |
| 2000 | 0.8189 | +1.8% |
| 2001 | 0.8209 | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 0.8474 | +3.2% |
| 2003 | 0.8519 | +0.5% |
| 2004 | 0.8645 | +1.5% |
| 2005 | 0.8791 | +1.7% |
| 2006 | 0.8901 | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 0.9133 | +2.6% |
| 2008 | 0.9284 | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 0.9249 | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 0.9567 | +3.4% |
| 2011 | 0.961 | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 0.9564 | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 0.9612 | +0.5% |
| 2014 | 0.9653 | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 0.9627 | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 0.9688 | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 0.9809 | +1.2% |
| 2018 | 0.9931 | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 0.9948 | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 0.9874 | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 1 | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 0.9974 | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 0.9769 | -2.1% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.9769 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.994, 98% of the median. (52 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.9769 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.9955, 98% of the median. (15 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 0.4034 | 0.3917 | 0.4142 | 3 |
| 1960s | 0.4472 | 0.4191 | 0.4882 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.5693 | 0.5101 | 0.6081 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.6178 | 0.5462 | 0.6962 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.7487 | 0.711 | 0.8046 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8739 | 0.8189 | 0.9284 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9701 | 0.9564 | 0.9948 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9904 | 0.9769 | 1 | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More economy & growth data for South Korea
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), gaps 41.23 billion BoP, current US$ (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per unit 0.022 BoP, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per capita 797.74 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), gaps filled 15.80 billion BoP, current US$ (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), annual 22.87 % change on previous year (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), per unit 0.0084 BoP, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), per capita 305.78 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- Total reserves (includes gold, current US$), annual growth rate 4.39 % change on previous year (2025)
- Total reserves (includes gold, current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2332 includes gold, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Total reserves (includes gold, current US$), per capita 8,447 includes gold, current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is total factor productivity in South Korea?
- Total factor productivity in South Korea was 0.9769 in 2023, according to Feenstra et al. – Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest total factor productivity recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 2021.
- What is the lowest total factor productivity recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3917 in 1957.
- How does South Korea rank for total factor productivity?
- South Korea ranks 84th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is total factor productivity rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Feenstra et al. – Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Total factor productivity. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 67 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
This is the level of total factor productivity, relative to each country's value in 2021 (which is set to 1). This data is adjusted for inflation and differences in living costs between countries.