Last Year, Farm and Fishery Household Incomes Rose Together... Impact of Inflation and Disaster Relief Funds

2020 Agricultural and Fishery Household Economic Survey

(Source: Statistics Korea)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seonhee] Last year, the incomes of both farmers and fishermen increased. As the prices of agricultural and livestock products soared, the earnings from agriculture and fisheries rose compared to the previous year, and transfer income also increased by nearly 30% each due to disaster relief funds amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the '2020 Farm Household and Fishing Household Economic Survey' released by Statistics Korea on the 26th, the average income of farm households last year was 45.03 million KRW, up 9.3% from 2019. Agricultural income recorded 11.82 million KRW, a 15.2% increase from the previous year (10.25 million KRW), as total revenue rose 4.6% despite a slight increase (0.2%) in operating expenses.

Last year, crop prices surged significantly, leading to a 5.3% increase in income from rice, vegetables, and fruit trees. On the other hand, livestock income decreased by 0.4% compared to the previous year, as income from cattle increased but income from chickens, ducks, and livestock products (eggs and milk) declined.

During the same period, transfer income rose 27% to 14.26 million KRW, influenced by a 28.2% increase in public subsidies such as disaster relief funds.

As of the end of last year, the average assets of farm households were 565.72 million KRW, a 6.8% increase from the previous year. The average household expenditure of farm households was 34.49 million KRW, down 2.4%.

(Source: Statistics Korea)

Fishing households also recorded an average income of 53.19 million KRW last year, up 9.9% from 2019. Income from fisheries was 22.72 million KRW, a 9.9% increase. Income from aquatic animals and seaweed rose 5.4% compared to the previous year, and especially income from aquaculture such as shellfish increased by 16.2% compared to one year ago.

Like farm households, fishing households recorded transfer income of 14.33 million KRW, up 27.7% from a year earlier. The increase was largely due to public subsidies (which rose 30%).

As of the end of last year, the average assets of fishing households were 503.2 million KRW, a 10.2% increase from the previous year. The average household expenditure of fishing households was 30.58 million KRW, down 4.7%.

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