Only 13 female CEOs among 1,600 top Japanese companies

TOKYO - There are only 13 female chief executive officers (CEO) across approximately 1,600 top-listed companies in Japan, a survey by Kyodo News revealed recently, demonstrating that the Asian country is still slow in increasing diversity among its corporate decision-makers.

According to Kyodo News Agency, the survey showed that women lead just 0.8 per cent of the 1,643 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's top-tier Prime Market, based on an investigation of fiscal 2023 financial statements released by the end of August.

The lack of progress in appointing female CEOs is due partly to the hiring of top officers from outside businesses rather than promoting internally, said Ryusuke Ishii, a manager at the Japan Research Institute.

The latest research, however, found that the number of female board members exceeded 3,000, doubling from fiscal 2019, underscoring that Japanese companies have been making some progress in promoting women to top roles.

Excluding 29 firms that have been listed at the market's top tier for less than five years, the number of female CEOs at 1,614 Prime Market companies remained at between seven and nine for three years through fiscal 2022, the survey showed.

The Japanese government has asked top-listed firms to raise the proportion of female executives to 30 per cent or more by 2030. In fiscal 2023, the figure rose to 16.2 per cent, or 3,052 women, up from 1,502 in fiscal 2019.

The ratio is improving in Japan, but it still lags behind rates of 30 to 40 per cent in Europe and North America. The 30 per cent target has been achieved by 122 companies as of fiscal 2023, while 68 firms had no top-level female staff, down from 603 in fiscal 2019. - BERNAMA-KYODO