Statizoid

Clientelism index in South Korea

South Korea: Clientelism index was 0.123 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
0.123
Change on year
up 1.7%
World rank
150th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.919
in 1909
All-time low
0.094
in 2019
Years of data
237
1789–2025

Clientelism index in South Korea, 1789–2025

00.20.40.60.81178919072025

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, clientelism index in South Korea stood at 0.123.

The figure is up 1.7% on the previous year and down 15.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, clientelism index in South Korea peaked at 0.919 in 1909 and was at its lowest, 0.094, in 2019.

South Korea ranks 150th of 176 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 237 years of available data.

Clientelism index in South Korea, year by year

Year Value Change
1789 0.915 —
1790 0.915 +0.0%
1791 0.915 +0.0%
1792 0.915 +0.0%
1793 0.915 +0.0%
1794 0.915 +0.0%
1795 0.915 +0.0%
1796 0.915 +0.0%
1797 0.915 +0.0%
1798 0.915 +0.0%
1799 0.915 +0.0%
1800 0.915 +0.0%
1801 0.915 +0.0%
1802 0.915 +0.0%
1803 0.915 +0.0%
1804 0.915 +0.0%
1805 0.915 +0.0%
1806 0.915 +0.0%
1807 0.915 +0.0%
1808 0.915 +0.0%
1809 0.915 +0.0%
1810 0.915 +0.0%
1811 0.915 +0.0%
1812 0.915 +0.0%
1813 0.915 +0.0%
1814 0.915 +0.0%
1815 0.915 +0.0%
1816 0.915 +0.0%
1817 0.915 +0.0%
1818 0.915 +0.0%
1819 0.915 +0.0%
1820 0.915 +0.0%
1821 0.915 +0.0%
1822 0.915 +0.0%
1823 0.915 +0.0%
1824 0.915 +0.0%
1825 0.915 +0.0%
1826 0.915 +0.0%
1827 0.915 +0.0%
1828 0.915 +0.0%
1829 0.915 +0.0%
1830 0.915 +0.0%
1831 0.915 +0.0%
1832 0.915 +0.0%
1833 0.915 +0.0%
1834 0.915 +0.0%
1835 0.915 +0.0%
1836 0.915 +0.0%
1837 0.915 +0.0%
1838 0.915 +0.0%
1839 0.915 +0.0%
1840 0.915 +0.0%
1841 0.915 +0.0%
1842 0.915 +0.0%
1843 0.915 +0.0%
1844 0.915 +0.0%
1845 0.915 +0.0%
1846 0.915 +0.0%
1847 0.915 +0.0%
1848 0.915 +0.0%
1849 0.915 +0.0%
1850 0.915 +0.0%
1851 0.915 +0.0%
1852 0.915 +0.0%
1853 0.915 +0.0%
1854 0.915 +0.0%
1855 0.915 +0.0%
1856 0.915 +0.0%
1857 0.915 +0.0%
1858 0.915 +0.0%
1859 0.915 +0.0%
1860 0.915 +0.0%
1861 0.915 +0.0%
1862 0.915 +0.0%
1863 0.915 +0.0%
1864 0.915 +0.0%
1865 0.915 +0.0%
1866 0.915 +0.0%
1867 0.915 +0.0%
1868 0.915 +0.0%
1869 0.915 +0.0%
1870 0.915 +0.0%
1871 0.915 +0.0%
1872 0.915 +0.0%
1873 0.915 +0.0%
1874 0.915 +0.0%
1875 0.915 +0.0%
1876 0.915 +0.0%
1877 0.915 +0.0%
1878 0.915 +0.0%
1879 0.915 +0.0%
1880 0.915 +0.0%
1881 0.915 +0.0%
1882 0.915 +0.0%
1883 0.915 +0.0%
1884 0.915 +0.0%
1885 0.915 +0.0%
1886 0.915 +0.0%
1887 0.915 +0.0%
1888 0.915 +0.0%
1889 0.915 +0.0%
1890 0.915 +0.0%
1891 0.915 +0.0%
1892 0.915 +0.0%
1893 0.915 +0.0%
1894 0.915 +0.0%
1895 0.915 +0.0%
1896 0.915 +0.0%
1897 0.915 +0.0%
1898 0.915 +0.0%
1899 0.915 +0.0%
1900 0.915 +0.0%
1901 0.915 +0.0%
1902 0.915 +0.0%
1903 0.915 +0.0%
1904 0.908 -0.8%
1905 0.908 +0.0%
1906 0.908 +0.0%
1907 0.908 +0.0%
1908 0.908 +0.0%
1909 0.919 +1.2%
1910 0.907 -1.3%
1911 0.908 +0.1%
1912 0.908 +0.0%
1913 0.908 +0.0%
1914 0.908 +0.0%
1915 0.908 +0.0%
1916 0.908 +0.0%
1917 0.908 +0.0%
1918 0.908 +0.0%
1919 0.902 -0.7%
1920 0.907 +0.6%
1921 0.907 +0.0%
1922 0.907 +0.0%
1923 0.907 +0.0%
1924 0.907 +0.0%
1925 0.907 +0.0%
1926 0.907 +0.0%
1927 0.907 +0.0%
1928 0.907 +0.0%
1929 0.907 +0.0%
1930 0.907 +0.0%
1931 0.907 +0.0%
1932 0.907 +0.0%
1933 0.907 +0.0%
1934 0.907 +0.0%
1935 0.907 +0.0%
1936 0.907 +0.0%
1937 0.907 +0.0%
1938 0.907 +0.0%
1939 0.907 +0.0%
1940 0.907 +0.0%
1941 0.907 +0.0%
1942 0.907 +0.0%
1943 0.907 +0.0%
1944 0.907 +0.0%
1945 0.695 -23.4%
1946 0.707 +1.7%
1947 0.707 +0.0%
1948 0.727 +2.8%
1949 0.748 +2.9%
1950 0.781 +4.4%
1951 0.777 -0.5%
1952 0.778 +0.1%
1953 0.813 +4.5%
1954 0.808 -0.6%
1955 0.808 +0.0%
1956 0.804 -0.5%
1957 0.801 -0.4%
1958 0.803 +0.2%
1959 0.804 +0.1%
1960 0.708 -11.9%
1961 0.732 +3.4%
1962 0.732 +0.0%
1963 0.755 +3.1%
1964 0.717 -5.0%
1965 0.717 +0.0%
1966 0.717 +0.0%
1967 0.711 -0.8%
1968 0.707 -0.6%
1969 0.707 +0.0%
1970 0.705 -0.3%
1971 0.697 -1.1%
1972 0.678 -2.7%
1973 0.651 -4.0%
1974 0.65 -0.2%
1975 0.65 +0.0%
1976 0.65 +0.0%
1977 0.65 +0.0%
1978 0.651 +0.2%
1979 0.654 +0.5%
1980 0.654 +0.0%
1981 0.651 -0.5%
1982 0.65 -0.2%
1983 0.65 +0.0%
1984 0.65 +0.0%
1985 0.598 -8.0%
1986 0.592 -1.0%
1987 0.599 +1.2%
1988 0.422 -29.5%
1989 0.422 +0.0%
1990 0.409 -3.1%
1991 0.409 +0.0%
1992 0.393 -3.9%
1993 0.389 -1.0%
1994 0.389 +0.0%
1995 0.389 +0.0%
1996 0.38 -2.3%
1997 0.377 -0.8%
1998 0.373 -1.1%
1999 0.373 +0.0%
2000 0.33 -11.5%
2001 0.313 -5.2%
2002 0.313 +0.0%
2003 0.224 -28.4%
2004 0.227 +1.3%
2005 0.228 +0.4%
2006 0.228 +0.0%
2007 0.227 -0.4%
2008 0.254 +11.9%
2009 0.254 +0.0%
2010 0.254 +0.0%
2011 0.254 +0.0%
2012 0.17 -33.1%
2013 0.146 -14.1%
2014 0.146 +0.0%
2015 0.146 +0.0%
2016 0.155 +6.2%
2017 0.109 -29.7%
2018 0.105 -3.7%
2019 0.094 -10.5%
2020 0.119 +26.6%
2021 0.119 +0.0%
2022 0.124 +4.2%
2023 0.125 +0.8%
2024 0.121 -3.2%
2025 0.123 +1.7%

South Korea compared with similar countries

  • South Korea's 0.123 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.131, 94% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • South Korea's 0.123 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.4255, 29% of the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1780s 0.915 0.915 0.915 1
1790s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1800s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1810s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1820s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1830s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1840s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1850s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1860s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1870s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1880s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1890s 0.915 0.915 0.915 10
1900s 0.9119 0.908 0.919 10
1910s 0.9073 0.902 0.908 10
1920s 0.907 0.907 0.907 10
1930s 0.907 0.907 0.907 10
1940s 0.8119 0.695 0.907 10
1950s 0.7977 0.777 0.813 10
1960s 0.7203 0.707 0.755 10
1970s 0.6636 0.65 0.705 10
1980s 0.5888 0.422 0.654 10
1990s 0.3881 0.373 0.409 10
2000s 0.2598 0.224 0.33 10
2010s 0.1579 0.094 0.254 10
2020s 0.1218 0.119 0.125 6

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 147 Latvia 0.131 compare
  2. 147 Lithuania 0.131 compare
  3. 149 Costa Rica 0.129 compare
  4. 151 Belarus 0.118 compare
  5. 152 Austria 0.105 compare
  6. 152 United States 0.105 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is clientelism index in South Korea?
Clientelism index in South Korea was 0.123 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest clientelism index recorded in South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 0.919 in 1909.
What is the lowest clientelism index recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 0.094 in 2019.
How does South Korea rank for clientelism index?
South Korea ranks 150th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is clientelism index rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is down 15.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Korea data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Clientelism index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Relationships involving this indicator

Comparisons with other indicators across countries. Each was re-measured with population and national income held constant, so a relationship that only reflected country size is not listed here.

All correlations →

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Clientelism index in South Korea. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 14 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/clientelism-index/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 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/clientelism-index/korea-rep/">Clientelism index in South Korea</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Clientelism index
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 24,366 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed