Last Year, National Wealth Increased by 2,030 Trillion Won... Household Net Assets at 544.76 Million Won

Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea Announce '2021 National Balance Sheet (Provisional)'
Last Year, Household Net Assets 540 Million Won... 8% Increase Due to Real Estate Rise

Last year, the land, construction, and financial assets of our people increased significantly, resulting in a 203 trillion won (11.4%) rise in national net assets, which represent national wealth. This is the highest growth rate in 14 years since 2007. Net assets per household were recorded at 544.76 million won, an 8% increase. Real estate, including buildings and land, accounted for 75% of the national net assets.

National Net Assets at 1,980.9 Trillion Won... Up 11.4%

According to the '2021 National Balance Sheet (Provisional)' released by the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea on the 21st, as of the end of last year, national net assets stood at 1,980.9 trillion won, an increase of 203 trillion won compared to the previous year (1,777.9 trillion won).

The national balance sheet records the scale of tangible and intangible, non-financial and financial assets and liabilities held by economic agents, serving as basic data to understand national wealth. National wealth generally continues to increase every year.

Looking at the factors affecting the change in national net assets, non-financial assets amounted to 1,902.7 trillion won, up 177.8 trillion won (10.3%) from the previous year, and net financial assets, calculated by subtracting financial liabilities (2,291 trillion won) from financial assets (2,107.3 trillion won), increased by 252 trillion won (47.5%) to 782 trillion won.

At the end of last year, national net assets were 9.6 times the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP, 2,072 trillion won), up from 9.2 times the previous year. This means it takes nearly 10 years for total assets to catch up with GDP.

The ratio of land assets to GDP recorded an all-time high of 5.2 times. Last year, while GDP increased by 6.7%, land assets rose by 10.0%, causing the ratio to increase.

Rapid Increase in Land and Construction Assets... Household Assets Rise with Housing Prices

Net assets per household were 544.76 million won, an 8.0% increase from the previous year.

Since the national balance sheet statistics do not separately estimate the household sector, this estimated net asset amount per household is calculated by dividing the total net assets of 'households and non-profit organizations' by the estimated number of households.

The net assets of households and non-profit organizations amounted to 1,592 trillion won, up 10.8% (113.29 trillion won). The growth rate was lower than in 2020 (12.4%). Over one year, real estate increased by 11.8%, cash and deposits by 8.8%, and financial liabilities also rose, mainly due to loans (9.9%) and government loans (3.9%).

Looking at the composition ratio of net assets of households and non-profit organizations: ▲ Housing 609.8 trillion won (52.6%) ▲ Real estate other than housing 262.6 trillion won (22.7%) ▲ Cash and deposits 213.9 trillion won (18.5%) ▲ Insurance, etc. 149.8 trillion won (12.9%) ▲ Equity securities and investment funds 113.4 trillion won (9.8%).

Real estate, including housing, accounted for 75.3% of household net assets.

Also, the ratios of net assets and real estate assets of households and non-profit organizations to gross disposable income (PGDI, income that households can freely use for consumption and savings) were 10.0 times and 7.6 times, respectively. Both are at record-high levels.

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