Local Government Female Officials Ratio Up 1.5p... Female Managers Grade 5+ Ratio Also Up 3.5%p

Publication of 2021 Local Government Female Public Officials Personnel Statistics

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 30th that it has published the booklet "Local Government Female Public Officials Personnel Statistics (2021 Standard)," which provides an overview of female public officials across 243 local governments nationwide.

Last year, the overall proportion of female public officials in local governments increased by 1.5 percentage points compared to the previous year, and the proportion of female managers at grade 5 or higher rose even more, by 3.5 percentage points, indicating a general increase in the ratio of female public officials.

The regions with the highest proportions of female public officials were Busan (53.8%), Seoul (51.6%), and Incheon (51.3%), and for the first time this year, Gyeonggi, Gwangju, and Ulsan also exceeded 50%.

Among female managers at grade 5 or higher, out of 25,431 officials, 6,171 (24.3%) were women, marking a 3.5 percentage point increase compared to 2020 (5,165 women, 20.8%). By region, Busan had the highest proportion at 37.4%, followed by Ulsan (33.4%) and Seoul (30.6%), with metropolitan cities showing a stronger presence than provincial-level areas.

The proportion of female public officials at grade 6, who are eligible for promotion to grade 5, also increased by 2.2 percentage points from 41.8% the previous year to 44.0%. Additionally, the proportion of women working in planning, budgeting, personnel, audit, and main department sections rose by 3.0 percentage points from 43.3% to 46.3% compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, among 633 successful candidates in the grade 7 open competitive exam, 337 (53.2%) were women, marking an all-time high. Among 21,633 successful candidates in the grade 8-9 open competitive exams, 13,062 (60.4%) were women. During the past year, under the gender equality recruitment target system, additional successful candidates included 242 men and 48 women, with men outnumbering women.

Meanwhile, the number of employees on maternity leave increased by 9.2 percentage points from 5,746 the previous year to 6,277, and the number of employees on parental leave also rose from 14,167 to 16,603. Notably, the number of male employees taking parental leave surged by 29.1 percentage points from 2,928 to 3,780, indicating that efforts to balance work and family life are expanding not only for women but also for men.

Im Sang-gyu, Director of the Local Autonomy Policy Division, stated, "Based on this statistical analysis, the number of female public officials and female managers at grade 5 or higher in local governments is expected to continue increasing," adding, "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will actively support local government officials in balancing work and family life and in demonstrating their capabilities."

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