More than four in 10 South Korean companies predict the number of female executives will increase in the future as young women with purchasing power are emerging as their core clients, a poll showed Tuesday.

According to the survey of 304 local companies taken by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 43.8 percent of the respondents said that they will likely have more women in the C-suites.

While 53.9 percent of the companies polled said the number of female executives will remain at the current level, only 2.3 percent said it will decrease.

As of now, only 23.7 percent of the respondents have at least one female executive, with an average number of female executives per company reaching 2.2.

“Women’s career discontinuity stemming from child birth and rearing causes the small number of female executives in South Korean companies,” the KCCI said. (Yonhap News)