The ratio of female CEOs at local listed firms reached 0.7 percent, data showed Friday, raising concerns over the severe gender imbalance in the country’s business world.

Among the country’s 1,787 companies listed on the main bourse and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market, only 13 women currently serve as CEOs at 14 firms, according to the data compiled by research firm CEO Score.

The number hovers far below 4.2 percent posted by the world’s top 1,000 companies tallied by the U.S. business magazine Fortune in November 2012.

The combined market capitalization of companies headed by female CEOs reached 5.2 trillion won ($4.72 billion) on Thursday, which accounts for only 0.4 percent of 1,291 trillion won tallied by the total listed firms.

Meanwhile, women accounted for 1.4 percent of the total 5,513 executives at South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates in September 2012, CEO Score added. (Yonhap News)