Female wage earners approach 10 million milestone

Last year saw a significant milestone as the number of female wage workers approached 10 million, marking the highest share of total wage workers ever recorded. However, despite this progress, the gender wage gap remained the widest among member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

According to data from the National Statistics Portal of Statistics Korea released on Tuesday, female wage earners in 2023 reached 9,976,000, marking an increase of 282,000 from the previous year. This figure represents the highest number recorded since related statistics were first compiled in 1963, marking a 17.4-fold increase over the past 60 years. Last year, women accounted for 45.7% of all wage earners, reaching an all-time high.

Of the female wage earners, 68.7% were regular workers, totaling 6.853 million, while 28.1% were temporary workers, comprising 2.803 million, and 3.2% were daily workers, amounting to 320,000 individuals. Consequently, the total number of employed women, including female wage earners, reached 12.464 million last year, with women accounting for 43.9% of the workforce, the highest figure on record.

Despite women's growing participation in the workforce, a significant wage gap persists between the genders. According to Statistics Korea’s ‘Korea’s Sustainable Development Goals Implementation Report 2024,’ the gender wage gap stood at 31.2% as of 2022, ranking first among the 35 OECD member countries. This figure is 2.6 times higher than the OECD average of 12.1%, with Korea being the only country to exceed the 30% mark. Israel came in second place with 25.4%.


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