State data show that four out of ten wage workers in their 20s are non-regular employees, with the proportion reaching an all-time high.

According to the data by Statistics Korea on Sunday, one-point-46 million people were non-regular workers out of the country's three-point-38 million wage workers in their 20s as of August.

The proportion of non-regular workers reached 43-point-one percent to mark the highest for any August since 2003.

The August number of non-regular workers in the age group is steadily increasing from about one million in 2014 to one-point-15 million in 2017, one-point-28 million in 2020 and one-point-42 million in 2023.

In contrast, the comparable figure for regular workers has decreased from two-point-27 million in 2014 to two-point-11 million in 2020, with the figure falling below two million for the first time this year to one-point-92 million.

The number of regular workers in their 20s declined by 346-thousand, while that of non-regular workers increased to 392-thousand over the past decade.