The number of temporary workers in South Korea has exceeded 6 million this year for the first time, according to government figures Wednesday.

As of August, there were a total of 6.07 million temporary workers here, Statistics Korea said. The figure was up by 131,000 people compared to a year earlier.

Among the different types of temporary workers, the number of part-time employees working for designated periods of time grew the most, increasing by 148,000 to reach 2.03 million, the figures showed.

Despite the growing number of temporary employees in the country, the wage gap with regular workers appeared to have widened.

Regular workers received a 2.3 percent increase in their annual wages ― standing at an average of 2.6 million won ($2,474) ― over the past year, but the wages of temporary workers rose 1.8 percent to 1.45 million won.