The rate, which covers women in the working age between 15 and 64, increased by 7.2 percentage points over the 10 years through last year, according to the 2017 report on gender equality adopted at a cabinet meeting.

But women in the managerial positions accounted for only 13.0 pct of the total female workers in Japan, against 36.0 pct in Britain and 29.3 pct in Germany.

The Japanese level "is low compared with other countries," the report said, noting the need for assistance to make it easier for women to continue working and develop careers.

Of the country's 28.1 million working women, 1.49 million are employed as nonregular workers, such as part-timers, despite their wish to work as regular employees, the report said.

The report called for better treatment of such women. (Jiji poress)