The United Nations Development Programme has ranked Korea 12th this year in its Gender Inequality Index survey of 193 nations, up from 16th last year. iClickArt (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution of this photo is prohibited under copyright law.)

By Jeon Misun 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has ranked Korea 12th in its Gender Inequality Index this year covering 193 nations, up from 16th last year and No. 2 in Asia after Singapore (eighth).

Korea's 2025 score was 0.038, up from 0.062 last year.

The index measures the loss of human development due to gender inequality in three categories: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. A score closer to zero indicates a higher level of fairness.

The economic activity participation rate of the country's women rose from 55% last year to 56.1%.

The percentage of women with a secondary education or higher rose from 83.8% to 85% over the period and that of female members of the National Assembly slightly rose from 18.6% to 19.1%.

The teen birth rate plummeted from 2.1 to 0.5 per 1,000 people, indicating a positive impact on improving gender equality.

Scandinavian countries dominated the upper echelon of the UNDP rankings, with Denmark first (0.003), Norway second (0.004) and Sweden third (0.007). In Asia, Japan ranked 22nd and China 41st.

msjeon22@korea.kr