Not Just National Pension: Chinese Nationals Receive Overwhelmingly Most Unemployment Benefits

As foreign workers subscribed to employment insurance increased 2.6-fold over five years, the total amount of unemployment benefits paid to foreigners reached an all-time high of 113.4 billion won, data showed.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Wi-sang's office, the number of foreign employment insurance subscribers surged 2.6-fold in four years, from approximately 177,200 in 2021 to 458,600 in 2025.

The number of foreign recipients of unemployment benefits also increased during the same period from about 15,400 to 16,700.

The total payout grew from 100.22 billion won in 2021 to 113.399 billion won in 2025.

After dropping to 75.975 billion won in 2022, the amount of unemployment benefits began to climb gradually starting the following year, eventually surpassing 110 billion won last year.

The distribution of foreign unemployment benefits was heavily concentrated among Chinese nationals.

Last year, about 79 percent of the total unemployment benefits received by foreigners went to ethnic Koreans from China and Chinese nationals, with the total amount paid to them reaching 89.482 billion won.

As of the end of 2025, ethnic Koreans from China and Chinese nationals accounted for 118,800 subscribers, making up just 25.9 percent of all foreign subscribers. However, they accounted for 78 percent of the foreigners who collected unemployment benefits that same year.

This indicates that the proportion of Chinese nationals receiving unemployment benefits relative to the number of insurance subscribers is exceptionally high.

Analysts attribute this trend to the fact that ethnic Koreans from China tend to stay in South Korea long-term and integrate into the domestic labor market at higher rates compared to other foreign nationals.

Following China, the countries with the largest number of benefit recipients were Vietnam, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines, in that order.

Employment insurance premiums paid by foreigners also increased significantly. The amount of unemployment and employment stability insurance premiums levied on foreign regular workers rose from 92.917 billion won in 2021 to 177.276 billion won in 2025.

Reported by Lee Ho-geon | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.