The labor participation rate for women in their 20s stood at 64.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, up from 63.3 percent in the previous quarter, government data showed.

The figure is higher than the rate of 62 percent for men of the same age group, while the gap between men and women was the largest since the second quarter of 2012, according to Statistics Korea.

The trend is mostly due to low birthrates and a decline in marriages, the agency said.

The number of babies born in South Korea dropped for the first time in four years in 2013 to 436,600, down 48,000, or 9.9 percent, from a year earlier, marking the lowest number of childbirths since 2005.

Meanwhile, the government has been trying to bring more women into the nation’s workforce by encouraging companies to offer flexible work hours and other incentives to help those juggling home life and work.