Statistics Korea SDG Report... Industrial Accident Deaths Up, Inequality and Climate Crisis Severe

Statistics Korea 'Korea SDG Implementation Report 2023'
Industrial Accident Deaths 2,223... Increase of 143
Women in Senior Government Positions 8.5%, Lowest Among OECD

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was observed that South Korea's implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) did not proceed as expected. While economic activities showed signs of recovery, progress was particularly delayed in the fields of education, inequality, climate, and ecosystems.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

On the 29th, Statistics Korea announced the publication of the "Korea SDG Implementation Report 2023." The SDGs refer to the 17 goals unanimously agreed upon by UN member states to be achieved between 2016 and 2030. This report, compiled by Statistics Korea, diagnoses sustainability across social, environmental, and economic sectors using data and presents the current status of South Korea's implementation.

In the education sector, the proportion of middle and high school students with at least average academic achievement, which declined in 2020 due to COVID-19, remained steady in 2021. According to the national academic achievement assessment, the largest decline was seen in the Korean language subject among 11th graders. The adult lifelong learning participation rate also sharply dropped from 41.7% in 2019 to 40.0% in 2020 and further to 30.7% in 2021, showing clear disparities by educational attainment and income level.

Last year, 2,223 workers died from industrial accidents in South Korea, an increase of 143 from the previous year. Among these, 874 deaths were due to accidents and 13,349 due to diseases. The death rate per 10,000 workers rose from 1.07 to 1.10. The total number of accident victims also increased by 7,635 from 122,713 to 130,348. Notably, 80.9% (707 deaths) of accident-related fatalities occurred at workplaces with fewer than 50 employees.

Proportion of Women in Top Executive Positions in the Central Government

Regarding inequality, although the proportion of female representation in the public sector showed an increasing trend, it remained lower than that of males. In 2022, there were no female heads among metropolitan local governments, and only seven (3.1%) among basic local governments. The proportion of women in senior management positions in the central government was 8.5% in 2020, ranking 32nd out of 33 OECD countries, effectively last place. There is a significant gap compared to Belgium (21.1%), which ranks just ahead of South Korea.

Total greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 were 656.2 million tons, a 9.7% decrease compared to the peak in 2018 (727 million tons), but 124.7% higher than in 1990 (292.1 million tons). South Korea’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target is a 40% reduction from 2018 levels. Per capita greenhouse gas emissions were 12.7 tons in 2020, an 85.8% increase from 6.8 tons 30 years earlier.

The net wealth Gini coefficient, which indicates the degree of inequality, has been on the rise since 2018. Last year, it increased by 0.003 from the previous year to 0.606. South Korea’s relative poverty rate based on disposable income was 15.1% in 2021, ranking eighth highest among 37 OECD countries alongside the United States.

Forest Area · Red List Index · Regional Livestock Breed Extinction Risk Ratio

Forest area was 6.29 million hectares in 2021, a decrease of 130,000 hectares compared to 6.42 million hectares in 2000. This reduction is more than twice the size of Seoul. The Red List Index, which comprehensively monitors the status and extinction threats of wildlife, declined from 0.76 in 2000 to 0.69 in 2022, indicating a continuous loss of biodiversity.

Han Hoon, Commissioner of Statistics Korea, stated, “The crises we currently face, such as climate change, cannot be resolved by efforts in a single sector alone,” adding, “We hope that the SDG Implementation Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of 17 sectors, will serve as a basis for establishing cross-ministerial policies to overcome these crises.”

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