Gender wage gap in South Korea
South Korea: Gender wage gap was 29.3% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Gender wage gap in South Korea, 2009–2022
Source: International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 29.3% for gender wage gap in 2022. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 10.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gender wage gap in South Korea peaked at 35.1% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 29.3%, in 2022.
South Korea ranks 5th of 67 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 35.1% | 35.1% | 35.1% | 1 |
| 2010s | 33.0% | 30.0% | 34.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.4% | 29.3% | 29.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More work & labour data for South Korea
- Legislation on sexual harassment in employment 1 (1=yes; 0=no) (2023)
- Criminal sanctions or compensation for workplace sexual harassment 1 (1=yes; 0=no) (2023)
- Women can take the same jobs as men 1 (1=yes; 0=no) (2023)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 64.4% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 72.0% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 78.9% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15 56.8% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15-6 71.2% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) 77.6% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15 64.4% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is gender wage gap in South Korea?
- Gender wage gap in South Korea was 29.3% in 2022, according to International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest gender wage gap recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 35.1% in 2009.
- What is the lowest gender wage gap recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 29.3% in 2022.
- How does South Korea rank for gender wage gap?
- South Korea ranks 5th out of 67 countries with data for 2022.
- Is gender wage gap rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Gender wage gap. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Difference between average earnings of men and average earnings of women expressed as a percentage of average earnings of men.