Female labor force participation rate APAC 2022, by country

In 2022, almost 80 percent of New Zealand's female population aged between 15 and 64 years participated in the labor force. Contrastingly, around five percent of Afghanistan's women in this age group were a part of the labor force in 2022. 

More opportunities for women?

With an increased focus on achieving gender equality, more opportunities have arisen for women throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Interestingly, many countries across the region had a higher female to male ratio in tertiary education. However, there appears to still exist bias in STEM (science, engineering, technology, and math) subjects and careers, as there is a low female representation in these areas.

Women in positions of power

Despite the attempts to push for gender equality, there also still appears to exist gender imbalances in many governments across the Asia-Pacific region. As such, there was a much lower female representation in ministerial level positions in Asia Pacific countries, compared to the male representation. Additionally, New Zealand was the only Asia Pacific country which stood out as having a bigger female-to-male ratio in terms of political representation.