The file photo taken Aug. 31, 2020, shows a farmer harvesting rice at a farm in Busan, 453 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of persons employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors has increased due to the economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a report showed Sunday.
The monthly average number of people employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors totaled 1.45 million last year, up 50,000 from 2019’s pre-COVID-19 level, according to a report from the state-run Korea Employment Information Service.
The trend persisted this year, with the monthly average number of such people for the January to October period estimated at 1.47 million, up around 10,000 from the same period last year.
After reaching 2.29 million in 1997, the monthly average number of people employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors started a downward trend, hitting bottom at 1.28 million in 2017, before starting to climb again.
“When the economy slumps, the number of people employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors tends to pick up,” the report said.
“The primary factor behind the recent hike in the number of such people is that households who are engaged in agriculture while being employed in other industries shift the main area of work to agriculture due to the economic slump caused by the pandemic.”
At present, elderly people over 60 years of age account for about 70 percent of those employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors, indicating a severe level of population aging in these areas.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
