Working Women See Employment Rate Rise Across All Ages... Female Employment Rate in Korea Reaches 54.7%

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Publishes "2025 White Paper on Women's Economic Activity"

Over the past decade, the employment rate for women across all age groups has shown a slight increase. In particular, the rise was more pronounced among women in their 30s, who are most affected by career interruptions, as well as among those in their 50s and older.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Employment and Labor published the "2025 White Paper on Women's Economic Activity" on December 28, which comprehensively covers the achievements and trends in women's economic activity policies.

On the 19th, Min-Kyung Won, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, is giving a post-report briefing. (This photo is not directly related to the article.) Photo by Yonhap News

According to the report, the number of employed women in 2024 increased by 188,000 compared to the previous year, reaching 12,652,000. The female employment rate was 54.7%, up 0.6 percentage points from 54.1% the previous year, but still 16.2 percentage points lower than the male employment rate of 70.9%.

As the female employment rate continued to rise, the gender employment rate gap narrowed from 22.0 percentage points in 2014, to 19.1 percentage points in 2019, and to 16.2 percentage points in 2024.

By age group, women in their 30s saw the largest increase in employment rates. For women aged 30-34, the employment rate reached 73.5%, a 15.9 percentage point rise compared to 2014. For those aged 35-39, the rate was 68.9%, up 13.9 percentage points.

The upward trend was also observed among the middle-aged and older population. For women aged 55-59, the employment rate was 66.2%, a 9.6 percentage point increase from 2014. For women aged 60 and above, it rose by 8.6 percentage points to 37.9%.

By educational attainment, women with a university degree or higher experienced a relatively larger increase in employment rates. In 2024, the employment rate for women with a university degree or higher was 69.1%, up 6.5 percentage points from 2014. In contrast, for women with a high school diploma or less, the employment rate reached only 45.4%, increasing by just 1.5 percentage points over the same period.

Last year, the employment rate for women with a high school diploma or less was 45.4%, up 1.5 percentage points from 43.9% in 2014, but the increase was smaller than that for women with higher education.

For men in 2024, the employment rate was 83.6% for those with a university degree or higher, and 60.4% for those with a high school diploma or less.

Employment Rate of Women by Age Group. Provided by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family

The employment status of women is also considered to be stabilizing. The percentage of women in regular employment increased by 13.1 percentage points, from 42.0% in 2014 to 55.1% in 2024. For men, the percentage of regular employees rose by 7.3 percentage points, from 51.6% to 58.9%.

The proportion of women in temporary employment decreased by 4.0 percentage points over the past 10 years, from 27.4% to 23.1%. The shares of daily workers and unpaid family workers also fell by 3.8 and 3.9 percentage points, respectively, indicating increased stability in women's economic activity.

Employment rate gap between men and women by age group. Provided by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family

This white paper is the third publication since 2023. It provides a comprehensive summary of the achievements and changes in women's economic activity policies, and includes data on women in national strategic technology fields such as artificial intelligence.

In 2024, the number of women working in the artificial intelligence sector was 8,242, an increase of 284 from 2023. Compared to 2020, when there were 3,142 women in the field, this represents more than a twofold increase. However, the proportion of women in the sector slightly decreased from 15.5% in 2023 to 15.1% last year.

In the semiconductor and display sectors, both the number and proportion of women declined. As of 2023, there were 10,500 women in these fields, a decrease of 8,035 from the previous year. The proportion dropped by 5.2 percentage points to 6.5%. In contrast, the number of men increased from 140,000 in 2022 to 150,000 in 2023.