Household Income Increases for 4 Consecutive Quarters... Wage and Business Income Both Rise

Statistics Korea, Household Trends in Q2

Household income in the second quarter of this year increased for the fourth consecutive quarter, supported by a rise in earned income. Real income, adjusted for inflation, also turned positive after one quarter.

According to the 'Household Trends for the Second Quarter of 2024' released by Statistics Korea on the 29th, the average monthly income per household (including households with one or more members and agricultural, forestry, and fishery households) in the second quarter of this year was 4,961,000 KRW, up 3.5% from a year earlier.

Household income has increased for four consecutive quarters, with the growth rate larger than the previous quarter (1.4%). Lee Jin-seok, head of the Household Income and Expenditure Trends Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "The increase in household income continues due to factors such as employment growth."

The largest portion, earned income, was 3,146,000 KRW, showing a 3.9% increase, which was a significant factor. Business income (940,000 KRW) and transfer income (735,000 KRW) also rose by 1.4% and 2.4%, respectively, during the same period.

Household real income, adjusted for inflation, increased by 0.8% compared to a year ago. Real household income turned positive after a 1.6% decrease in the first quarter.

Household expenditure was 3,811,000 KRW, up 4.3% from a year earlier. Consumption expenditure increased by 4.6% to 2,813,000 KRW, while non-consumption expenditure rose 3.7% to 997,000 KRW, influenced by increased interest costs.

The average monthly disposable income, calculated by subtracting non-consumption expenditure from income, increased by 3.5% to 3,964,000 KRW. The surplus amount, obtained by subtracting consumption expenditure from disposable income, rose 0.9% to 1,151,000 KRW. The average propensity to consume, which is the ratio of consumption expenditure to disposable income, was 71.0%, up 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

The average monthly income of the lowest 20% income group (1st quintile) and the highest 20% income group (5th quintile) were 1,159,000 KRW and 10,652,000 KRW, respectively. Income for the 1st quintile households increased by 3.7% mainly due to transfer income, while the 5th quintile households saw a 5.1% increase driven by earned income growth.

The average monthly consumption expenditure for the 1st and 5th quintile households was 1,252,000 KRW and 4,873,000 KRW, respectively, increasing by 1.9% and 6.8% compared to a year earlier. The consumption expenditure composition for the 1st quintile households was led by food and non-alcoholic beverages (20.6%), housing, water, electricity, and gas (19.1%), and health (13.4%), while for the 5th quintile households, it was food and accommodation (15.8%), transportation (15.2%), and food and non-alcoholic beverages (11.5%).

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