China had the second-highest percentage of women chief executive officers in the world during the past decade after the United States and Canada together, a private report showed.

Between 2004 and 2013, the US and Canada boasted the highest percentage of female CEOs at 3.2 percent, followed by China’s 2.5 percent. Japan had the lowest rate of 0.8 percent, Strategy&, formerly Booz & Co before being taken over by PricewaterhouseCoopers, said in a report yesterday.

“Women CEOs are still rare, but they are becoming more prevalent, and we expect that trend to accelerate,” Strategy& said in the report.

“By 2040, we project that women will make up about a third of new CEO appointments.”

The highest percentage of women leaders was found in information technology firms as well as companies dealing in consumer necessities and consumer discretionary goods such as cars and luxury products.

Women make up half of the workforce in China but their percentage for entry-level jobs is 50 percent, in contrast to 10 percent for senior positions. The prospects for women are limited due partly to an earlier retirement age for them compared with men.

Many women chose to run their own businesses with a quarter of entrepreneurs being female in China.

Half of the self-made female billionaires in the world are from China, said Sarah Butler, managing director of Strategy& in China.