A recent report shows that the employment rate for South Koreans of prime working age is mostly lower than other developed countries.

A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) showed that South Korea’s employment rate for those aged between 25 and 54 was 75-point-nine percent. 

The tally was the 27th highest among the 34 OECD member countries and below the OECD average of 76-point-seven percent.

Iceland had the highest employment rate in the age bracket at 87-point-eight percent. Switzerland, Russia and Sweden followed.

Mexico, Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey had lower rates than South Korea. 

The employment rate for people aged 55 through 64 in South Korea, meanwhile, was 66-point-two percent, the seventh highest among OECD nations and immediately below Japan.

The number was eight-point-four percentage points higher than the OECD average of 57-point-eight percent, indicating an active senior workforce.

Analysts said the decline in female labor due to pregnancy and childrearing was one of the key reasons for the low employment rate for people in the 25 to 54 age bracket. They also cited the relatively low youth employment rate.

South Korea’s female employment rate for those aged 15 to 64 was 55-point-eight percent, below those in Iceland, Switzerland and Germany, where rates were above 70 percent.