Researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea

Republic of Korea: Researchers per million inhabitants was 9,472 FTE in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
9,472 FTE
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
1st
of 103 countries
All-time high
9,472 FTE
in 2023
All-time low
2,008 FTE
in 1998
Years of data
28
1996–2023

Researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea, 1996–2023

2.0k4.0k6.0k8.0k10.0k1996200920231996: 2.2k FTE1997: 2.2k FTE1998: 2.0k FTE1999: 2.2k FTE2000: 2.3k FTE2001: 2.9k FTE2002: 3.0k FTE2003: 3.2k FTE2004: 3.3k FTE2005: 3.8k FTE2006: 4.2k FTE2007: 4.6k FTE2008: 4.9k FTE2009: 5.0k FTE2010: 5.4k FTE2011: 5.9k FTE2012: 6.4k FTE2013: 6.5k FTE2014: 6.9k FTE2015: 7.0k FTE2016: 7.1k FTE2017: 7.5k FTE2018: 7.9k FTE2019: 8.3k FTE2020: 8.6k FTE2021: 9.1k FTE2022: 9.4k FTE2023: 9.5k FTE

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in FTE.

Analysis

In 2023, researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea stood at 9,472 FTE. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 46.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea peaked at 9,472 FTE in 2023 and was at its lowest, 2,008 FTE, in 1998.

Republic of Korea ranks 1st of 103 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.

Researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea, year by year

Annual values for Researchers per million inhabitants (FTE) in Republic of Korea, 1996 to 2023.
Year FTE Change
1996 2,186 FTE
1997 2,242 FTE +2.5%
1998 2,008 FTE -10.4%
1999 2,161 FTE +7.6%
2000 2,324 FTE +7.5%
2001 2,907 FTE +25.1%
2002 3,008 FTE +3.5%
2003 3,190 FTE +6.1%
2004 3,281 FTE +2.9%
2005 3,763 FTE +14.7%
2006 4,173 FTE +10.9%
2007 4,615 FTE +10.6%
2008 4,892 FTE +6.0%
2009 5,038 FTE +3.0%
2010 5,429 FTE +7.8%
2011 5,909 FTE +8.8%
2012 6,393 FTE +8.2%
2013 6,458 FTE +1.0%
2014 6,867 FTE +6.3%
2015 7,020 FTE +2.2%
2016 7,057 FTE +0.5%
2017 7,453 FTE +5.6%
2018 7,918 FTE +6.2%
2019 8,329 FTE +5.2%
2020 8,620 FTE +3.5%
2021 9,071 FTE +5.2%
2022 9,435 FTE +4.0%
2023 9,472 FTE +0.4%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 2,149 FTE 2,008 FTE 2,242 FTE 4
2000s 3,719 FTE 2,324 FTE 5,038 FTE 10
2010s 6,884 FTE 5,429 FTE 8,329 FTE 10
2020s 9,150 FTE 8,620 FTE 9,472 FTE 4

Countries ranked near Republic of Korea

  1. 2 Sweden 8,911 FTE compare
  2. 3 Denmark 8,838 FTE compare
  3. 4 Singapore 8,782 FTE compare

See the full ranking of 153 places →

More science & technology data for Republic of Korea

All data for Republic of Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea?
Researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea was 9,472 FTE in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest researchers per million inhabitants recorded in Republic of Korea?
The highest recorded value was 9,472 FTE in 2023.
What is the lowest researchers per million inhabitants recorded in Republic of Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 2,008 FTE in 1998.
How does Republic of Korea rank for researchers per million inhabitants?
Republic of Korea ranks 1st out of 103 countries with data for 2023.
Is researchers per million inhabitants rising or falling in Republic of Korea?
Over the last ten years it is up 46.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Republic of Korea data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Researchers per million inhabitants (FTE). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 24 August 2026, from https://science-tech.statizoid.com/stat/researchers-per-million-inhabitants-fte/korea-rep/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://science-tech.statizoid.com/stat/researchers-per-million-inhabitants-fte/korea-rep/">Researchers per million inhabitants in Republic of Korea</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Researchers per million inhabitants (FTE)
Unit
FTE
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
153 places, 3,275 data points, 1996–2024
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release