South Korea’s female workforce hits record 10 million

For the first time in South Korea’s history, the number of employed women has surpassed 10 million, according to data released by Statistics Korea. This landmark achievement reflects a growing presence of women in the workforce, despite ongoing gender discrimination and biases that persist in South Korean society.

From January to August 2024, an average of 10.15 million women were employed each month, either in long-term or short-term roles. This is the highest number recorded since the statistics agency began tracking female employment in 1963.

“It is the first time that the number exceeded the 10-million mark,” the agency noted, predicting that this trend will likely continue throughout the remainder of the year.

The rise in female employment correlates with a steady increase in women’s economic participation over the decades. In 1963, only 574,000 women were part of the labour market. By 2023, that number had surged to 9.97 million, and in 2024, it reached a historic high. The number of employed women has grown nearly 18 times over the past 60 years, while male employment has increased by a factor of 6.6 during the same period.

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Women now account for 46.1% of South Korea’s 22.02 million paid employees. Of the 10.15 million of employed women, 68.6% hold full-time positions with contracts of a year or more, while 28.6% are in temporary roles lasting more than a month but less than a year. The remaining 2.8% are on short-term contracts under a month.

The rise in women’s economic participation is also evident among self-employed individuals. From January to August 2024, approximately 1.72 million women worked independently as business owners or freelancers, making up 30.5% of the self-employed population. This is the first time women have surpassed the 30% threshold in this category.

Despite these gains, South Korea continues to struggle with significant gender wage inequality. The country ranks last among OECD nations in terms of gender wage disparity, with a gap of 31.2% in 2022. On average, women in South Korea earn just 68.8% of what men make, the highest wage gap in the OECD and nearly three times the organisation’s average, reported The Korea Times.