Last Year's Average Household Income 59.24 Million Won... Lowest Since 2012 Statistics Compilation (Comprehensive)

On the 17th, Statistics Korea, Bank of Korea, and Financial Supervisory Service Announce '2019 Household Financial Welfare Survey Results'

The Democratic Party of Korea and the government have settled on a property tax relief criterion for single-homeowners at "under 600 million won." The major shareholder requirement for stock capital gains tax will be maintained at the current 1 billion won with a grace period. The photo shows the view of Seoul apartments from the observatory of the 63 Building on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Last year, income earned through earned income and business income was relatively sluggish due to economic downturn, while public transfer income increased by the largest margin ever.

According to the '2019 Household Financial Welfare Survey Results' announced on the 17th by Statistics Korea, the Bank of Korea, and the Financial Supervisory Service, the average income per household in South Korea last year was 59.24 million KRW, an increase of 1.7% from 58.28 million KRW the previous year. This is the lowest since the statistics began in 2012.

Last year, earned income among household income was 37.91 million KRW, up 0.3%. Business income was 11.51 million KRW, down 2.2%. Due to the economic downturn, overall household income decreased. On the other hand, public transfer income was 4.57 million KRW, increasing by 18.3%, marking the largest increase since the statistics began in 2012. Property income was 4.17 million KRW, and private transfer income was 1.07 million KRW, respectively.

By age group of household heads, the average income was highest in their 40s at 76.48 million KRW, followed by those in their 50s (75.49 million KRW), 30s (59.35 million KRW), and 60s and above (39.89 million KRW).

Household debt averaged 82.56 million KRW, an increase of 3.46 million KRW (4.4%) from 79.10 million KRW a year earlier. Financial debt such as mortgage loans and credit loans increased by 5.1% to 60.50 million KRW, and rental deposits rose by 2.4% to 22.07 million KRW. As financial debt increased more sharply, the proportion of financial debt in total debt expanded by 0.5 percentage points to 73.3%.

By age group, debt among young households increased sharply. The average household debt of household heads aged 39 and under was 91.17 million KRW, up 12.2% from 81.25 million KRW a year earlier. Among them, debt of households in their 30s rose to an average of 100.82 million KRW, surpassing 100 million KRW for the first time ever. This is interpreted as a result of a rapid increase in young people taking out loans to buy their own homes or to prepare rental deposits amid rising house and jeonse prices. Credit loans for households in their 30s averaged 13.78 million KRW, the highest among all age groups.

The quintile ratio of equivalized disposable income, which shows the income gap between the top 20% and bottom 20% groups, was 6.25 times last year, down 0.29 points from the previous year. The Gini coefficient, indicating income inequality, was 0.339, down 0.006 points from the previous year. Lim Kyung-eun, head of the Welfare Statistics Division at Statistics Korea, stated, "The Gini coefficient based on disposable income in 2019 was 0.339, an improvement of 0.006 compared to 0.345 in the previous year." The Gini coefficient is an indicator of income inequality; the closer to 0, the more equal, and the closer to 1, the more unequal.

Meanwhile, household income by income quintile generally increased. In particular, the average income of the first quintile households was 11.55 million KRW, up 4.6% from the previous year. The significant increase in income for the first quintile households was because the government compensated for the reduced earned income through various support payments.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.