Seoul, Jan 18 (IANS): The number of jobs in the South Korean public sector reached an all-time high in 2022 as the government created more positions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, data showed on Thursday.

A total of 2.88 million people were employed by the public sector in 2022, up 1.4 per cent from the previous year, Yonhap News Agency reported citing the data from Statistics Korea.

The 2022 reading marked the highest level since 2016, when the agency began compiling related data.

Hiring in the public sector has been on a constant increase from 2.6 million in 2019 to 2.76 million in 2020 and 2.84 million in 2021, though the growth has slowed for the second year in a row in 2022.

Those working in the public field accounted for 10.2 per cent of all employed in 2022, down 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier, and it marked the first time that the share logged an on-year fall.

Some 85.6 per cent of the total public jobs were for the government, and positions in state-run companies took up 14.4 per cent, the data showed.

By industry, jobs in the public administration, defence and social security fields accounted for 48.3 per cent of the total in 2022, or the largest share, followed by the education service field with 27.2 per cent and the health and social welfare service sector with 4 per cent.

"Jobs in public health care and other pandemic-related positions had fallen in 2022 compared with a year earlier, while more people were hired in the education service sector," an agency official said.

By age, people in their 40s accounted for the biggest share with 26.6 per cent, followed by those in their 30s and 50s with 24.7 per cent and 24.1 per cent, respectively, the data showed.