Income Increase in Top and Bottom 10% During Moon Administration's 4 Years: 15 Million Won vs. 170 Thousand Won

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] During the four years since the Moon Jae-in administration took office, the average annual income of the top 10% income earners increased by nearly 15 million KRW, while the average annual income of the bottom 10% income earners increased by only 170,000 KRW. This indicates that the income gap between the upper and lower classes is widening again due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors.

On the 15th, Choo Kyung-ho, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the People Power Party, analyzed the integrated income 1000-quantile data received from the National Tax Service. According to the analysis, in 2020, the total income of 2,458,194 top 10% integrated income earners was 336 trillion 113.676 billion KRW, with an average income per person of 136.73 million KRW.

Integrated income is the sum of individual income combining earned income and comprehensive income (interest, dividends, business, pension, and other income).

The average annual income per person in the top 10% of integrated income steadily increased from 122.44 million KRW in 2016, 127.91 million KRW in 2017, 130.55 million KRW in 2018, 132.26 million KRW in 2019, to 136.73 million KRW in 2020.

Comparing 2016, before the Moon Jae-in administration took office, and 2020, the fourth year of the administration, the average annual income per person in the top 10% increased by 14.29 million KRW.

During the same period, the average annual income per person in the bottom 10% of integrated income increased by only 170,000 KRW. In 2020, the total income of 2,458,194 bottom 10% integrated income earners was 4.815587 trillion KRW, with an average income per person of 1.96 million KRW.

The average annual income of the bottom 10% increased from 1.78 million KRW in 2016, 1.86 million KRW in 2017, 2.00 million KRW in 2018, and 2.07 million KRW in 2019, but decreased to 1.96 million KRW in 2020.

The income gap between the top 10% and bottom 10% had been decreasing but widened again in 2020. In 2016, the average annual income per person of the top 10% was 68.6 times that of the bottom 10%. This ratio decreased to 68.7 times in 2017, 65.2 times in 2018, and 64.0 times in 2019, but increased to 69.8 times in 2020.

Choo pointed out that narrowing the range to the top 0.1% makes the trend of widening income disparity even more pronounced. In 2020, the total income of 24,581 top 0.1% integrated income earners was 40.854657 trillion KRW, with an average income per person of 1.662 billion KRW. This is an increase of 371 million KRW from the average annual income per person of 1.291 billion KRW in the top 0.1% in 2016.

In 2020, the average annual income per person of the top 0.1% was 848.4 times that of the bottom 10%. This ratio was 723.7 times in 2016, 792.2 times in 2017, 734.8 times in 2018, and 733.8 times in 2019, but expanded to exceed 800 times in 2020.

Choo said, "The income gap has deepened due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, and the gap is expected to have widened further this year. Practical support for the common people who have been most affected is urgently needed."

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