The number of temporary workers in South Korea rose slightly this year from a year earlier, with the percentage of such employment also rising, government data showed Tuesday.

A total of 6.61 million workers were non-regular workers, part-timers or outsourced laborers as of August 2018, up 36,000 from a year ago, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

They accounted for 33 percent of the country’s 20.04 million salaried employees.

The 2018 data also showed that of the non-regular workers, 2.93 million were men, accounting for 44.4 percent, while 3.67 million were women.

Some 47 percent of the non-regular workers were in their 50s and 60s, the data showed.

Their average monthly salary for temporary workers was 1.64 million won ($1,438), up 75,000 won, or 4.8 percent, from a year earlier, compared to 3 million won — a 5.5 percent, or 158,000 won rise — for regular workers, according to the data. (Yonhap)