Female employment rate Japan 2014-2023
In 2023, the employment rate for women in Japan stood at 53.6 percent, up from about 47.6 percent in 2014. The male employment rate was 69.5 percent in 2023.
Increasing number of working women
As Japan is facing severe demographic challenges, the government has tried for many years to increase the number of women in the workforce. In 2013, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared his commitment to creating "a society in which women shine", calling it “a matter of the greatest urgency”. Since then, the number of employed women noticeably increased, exceeding 30 million in 2023.
Attitudes slow to change
Despite these advances, Japanese corporate culture as well as gender attitudes are only slowly changing. While the number of working women has certainly increased, some voices criticize that Japan still lags behind when it comes to women in leadership positions. This criticism is also extended to political leadership positions, as women in the House of Representatives made up less than 10 percent of diet members in 2022.
