Average annual wage in South Korea 2000-2022
Women in the job market
While the employment rate of South Korean women has risen steadily over the past decade, the gender pay gap still exists. On average, female workers earned about 64.6 percent of their male equivalents’ income in 2021. The average monthly income in South Korea was around 3.83 million South Korean won for men and about 2.48 million South Korean won for women that year.
Work-life balance
In 2021, South Korea was among the top five countries with the longest working hours in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In recent years, however, various measures have been put in place for workers, such as the 52-hour workweek and the flexible working system, to maintain a work-life balance. In fact, the number of employees with flexible working arrangements has increased significantly in recent years. The average monthly working hours of South Korean workers has mostly decreased over the past decade; In 2022, Koreans worked an average of 155 hours per month. According to a survey, the majority of respondents said they would choose to work for a company where they can have a work-life balance over a higher salary. This tendency was especially prominent among parents.