Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in South Korea
South Korea: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) was 20.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments in South Korea, 1997–2025
Source: Monthly ranking of women in national parliaments, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments in South Korea stood at 20.3%. That is the highest value across all 29 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 24.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments in South Korea peaked at 20.3% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 3.0%, in 1997.
South Korea ranks 124th of 193 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 3.0% | — |
| 1998 | 3.7% | +22.2% |
| 1999 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 5.9% | +59.3% |
| 2001 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 13.0% | +122.6% |
| 2005 | 13.4% | +2.6% |
| 2006 | 13.4% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 14.4% | +7.5% |
| 2008 | 13.7% | -4.7% |
| 2009 | 14.7% | +7.3% |
| 2010 | 14.7% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 14.7% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 15.7% | +6.5% |
| 2013 | 15.7% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 16.3% | +4.3% |
| 2015 | 16.3% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 17.0% | +4.1% |
| 2017 | 17.0% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 17.0% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 16.7% | -2.0% |
| 2020 | 19.0% | +14.0% |
| 2021 | 19.0% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 18.6% | -1.9% |
| 2023 | 19.1% | +2.2% |
| 2024 | 20.0% | +4.9% |
| 2025 | 20.3% | +1.7% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 20.3% is below the median for high income countries, which is 31.3%, 65% of the median. (64 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 20.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 16.7%, 1.2× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in South Korea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +122.6% | 5.9% | 13.0% |
| 2000 | +59.3% | 3.7% | 5.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.5% | 3.0% | 3.7% | 3 |
| 2000s | 10.6% | 5.9% | 14.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.1% | 14.7% | 17.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.3% | 18.6% | 20.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More public sector data for South Korea
- Democracy, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Arms imports 222.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2025)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 19.5 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0.0005 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), annual growth rate 362.84 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments in South Korea?
- Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments in South Korea was 20.3% in 2025, according to Monthly ranking of women in national parliaments, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
- What is the highest proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 20.3% in 2025.
- What is the lowest proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.0% in 1997.
- How does South Korea rank for proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments?
- South Korea ranks 124th out of 193 countries with data for 2025.
- Is proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Monthly ranking of women in national parliaments, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), published as part of Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Women in parliaments are the percentage of parliamentary seats in a single or lower chamber held by women.