Insurance and financial services in Korea
Korea: Insurance and financial services was 3.6% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Insurance and financial services in Korea, 1976–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service imports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for insurance and financial services in Korea is 3.6%, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 11.9% on the previous year and up 57.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, insurance and financial services in Korea peaked at 8.8% in 1976 and was at its lowest, -0.1%, in 1990.
Korea ranks 146th of 197 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Insurance and financial services in Korea, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 8.8% | — |
| 1977 | 6.5% | -26.4% |
| 1978 | 5.2% | -20.2% |
| 1979 | 5.7% | +10.1% |
| 1980 | 0.4% | -92.4% |
| 1981 | 0.5% | +22.6% |
| 1982 | 0.9% | +71.5% |
| 1983 | 0.5% | -47.1% |
| 1984 | 3.9% | +715.5% |
| 1985 | 3.0% | -24.5% |
| 1986 | 2.4% | -19.0% |
| 1987 | 1.0% | -58.6% |
| 1988 | 1.4% | +37.7% |
| 1989 | 0.4% | -69.0% |
| 1990 | -0.1% | -122.0% |
| 1991 | 0.2% | -348.0% |
| 1992 | 1.4% | +510.1% |
| 1993 | 1.4% | -3.9% |
| 1994 | 1.5% | +8.3% |
| 1995 | 1.5% | +3.1% |
| 1996 | 1.0% | -30.7% |
| 1997 | 0.8% | -22.4% |
| 1998 | 1.0% | +28.2% |
| 1999 | 0.3% | -74.3% |
| 2000 | 1.0% | +281.9% |
| 2001 | 1.4% | +37.1% |
| 2002 | 1.8% | +25.5% |
| 2003 | 1.2% | -30.4% |
| 2004 | 1.2% | -3.5% |
| 2005 | 1.6% | +39.4% |
| 2006 | 2.2% | +33.7% |
| 2007 | 2.8% | +28.6% |
| 2008 | 2.6% | -9.0% |
| 2009 | 3.9% | +52.1% |
| 2010 | 2.9% | -25.6% |
| 2011 | 2.7% | -8.3% |
| 2012 | 2.9% | +7.1% |
| 2013 | 2.7% | -4.6% |
| 2014 | 2.2% | -19.6% |
| 2015 | 2.3% | +4.8% |
| 2016 | 2.4% | +5.4% |
| 2017 | 2.5% | +4.6% |
| 2018 | 2.1% | -18.8% |
| 2019 | 2.5% | +20.0% |
| 2020 | 3.0% | +20.6% |
| 2021 | 3.1% | +4.8% |
| 2022 | 2.4% | -24.6% |
| 2023 | 3.9% | +66.4% |
| 2024 | 4.1% | +4.9% |
| 2025 | 3.6% | -11.9% |
Korea compared with similar countries
- Korea's 3.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 6.4%, 57% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Korea's 3.6% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 5.2%, 70% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Insurance and financial services in Korea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | +715.5% | 0.5% | 3.9% |
| 1992 | +510.1% | 0.2% | 1.4% |
| 1991 | +348.0% | -0.1% | 0.2% |
| 2000 | +281.9% | 0.3% | 1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6.5% | 5.2% | 8.8% | 4 |
| 1980s | 1.4% | 0.4% | 3.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.9% | -0.1% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.0% | 1.0% | 3.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.5% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.4% | 2.4% | 4.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Korea
More private sector data for Korea
- Merchandise trade 71.6% (2025)
- Food imports 6.3% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 60.1% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 631.89 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 1.6% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 87.3% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 709.33 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 13,724 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3788 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 3.76 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is insurance and financial services in Korea?
- Insurance and financial services in Korea was 3.6% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest insurance and financial services recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 8.8% in 1976.
- What is the lowest insurance and financial services recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.1% in 1990.
- How does Korea rank for insurance and financial services?
- Korea ranks 146th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is insurance and financial services rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 57.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 50 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Financial services covers services related to financial intermediation, financial risk management, liquidity transformation or auxiliary financial activities. It also includes insurance and pension scheme services which are services related to providing life insurance and annuities, non-life insurance, reinsurance, pensions, standardised guarantees and auxiliary services to insurance, pension schemes, and standardised guarantee schemes. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.