Raising women in workforce by 30% raises GDP by 7 - 12%

Raising the number of women in workforce by 30 percent would lift Malaysia’s GDP by seven to 12 percent, said Social Economic and Research Initiative chairwoman Nurul Izzah Anwar.

She also highlighted the slow growth of percentage in the number of Malaysian women in the labor force.

“Did you know, in 2023, the percentage of Malaysian women eligible working in our labour force stood at only 55.8%? While the percentage of Malaysian men eligible working in our labour force stood at 81.9%. Did you also know, the percentage of Malaysian women working in the labour force has only risen 12.3% since 1995?

“Did you also know, studies project if we could raise employment level for women in our country by 30%, the positive lift to Malaysia’s GDP could be an additional 7 – 12% GDP growth? An increase that much would place into the front leagues of global growth, accelerating our economic jump,” she said yesterday in conjunction with Labour Day yesterday, via LinkedIn.

The figures were derived from the findings of a study entitled Malaysian Women in Workforce: Charting a path to inclusive employment.

The study looked into issues such as the role of women and care work where they are forced to quit their careers for the sake of caring for a family member, education and employment gap and discriminatory hiring practice and perceptions.