Women's Average Monthly Wage at 64.8% of Men's... "Employment Equality Disclosure System to Be Introduced"

Korean Women’s Development Institute Releases Gender Statistics Analysis
Wider Disparities in Healthcare, Welfare, Sales, and Service Sectors
Need to Identify Structural Causes Behind Gender Wage Gap

The average monthly wage of women in South Korea amounts to only 64.8% of men's, with the gap widening further depending on industry and occupation. Experts point out that it is necessary to look beyond the simple average wage difference and identify structural issues—such as which jobs women are concentrated in and what opportunities are being denied to them.

On August 31, the Korean Women's Development Institute released an analysis of the main characteristics of the gender wage gap in the labor market based on the "2026 Gender Statistics in Korea," in commemoration of 2026 Gender Equality Week.

As of 2024, at domestic workplaces with at least one employee, the average monthly wage for women was 2,851,000 won, while that for men was 4,398,000 won, marking a difference of 1,547,000 won.

Notably, the proportion of female wage earners making less than 3 million won per month was 57.1%, more than double that of men at 25.1%. Conversely, in the high-income segment of 5 million won or more per month, the proportion of men was 22.7 percentage points higher than that of women. These statistics show that women's labor is concentrated in the low-wage sector.

The gap by industry is even more pronounced. In the health and social welfare service industry, women's wages were only 54.0% of men's. Although these industries have a high proportion of female workers, wage gaps are particularly wide as structural differences accumulate by job type, job level, and length of service. In sales and service occupations, women's wages were also at about 60% of men's.

Women's labor organizations urging for minimum wage increase and elimination of gender wage gap / Photo by Mun Hoonam munonam@

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), South Korea's gender wage gap was 29.0% in 2024, approximately 2.9 times the OECD average of 10.1%. The proportion of female low-wage workers in Korea was also 6.1 percentage points higher than the OECD average, demonstrating that Korean women are structurally relegated to lower wages.

Kim Jongsook, President of the Korean Women's Development Institute, emphasized, "The gender wage gap must be examined alongside the types of jobs and opportunities that women and men have in the labor market."

She noted that the gender wage gap is intertwined with the industries and occupations women are concentrated in, how opportunities for promotion and career advancement operate in a discriminatory manner, and broader structural issues across the labor market.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is working to systematically identify and improve these structural disparities by pursuing the introduction of the "Employment Equality Disclosure System"—a national policy initiative. This system would require companies to transparently release their gender-based wage and employment status, thereby exposing the roots of the wage gap and encouraging improvement. The Korean Women's Development Institute is actively preparing for adoption of the disclosure system, including drafting legal supporting materials, developing manuals, and creating tailored support services for companies.

President Kim declared, "Based on our research capabilities accumulated in gender statistics and employment equality, we will support the successful adoption of the Employment Equality Disclosure System and continue policy efforts to bring about tangible improvements in gender disparities within the labor market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.