58% of Gyeonggi Residents Say "Supplementary Budget Will Help the Economy"

The perceived economic conditions of Gyeonggi Province residents have clearly worsened over the past two months.

According to the "Public Perception Survey on Livelihood Economy" conducted by Gyeonggi Province from April 3 to April 6, 2026, targeting 1,000 residents, 48% of respondents answered that their current household financial situation was "good," which represents a 13 percentage point decrease from 61% in February. Conversely, 49% responded that their situation was "bad," up 12 percentage points from 37% in February.

By perceived living standards, the proportion of respondents who answered "bad" was 15% among the upper class, 43% among the middle class, and 73% among the lower class, confirming a distinct disparity in perceived economic hardship.

Concerns about external factors were also high. 85% of residents predicted that the military tensions in the Middle East would "continue for the time being or become prolonged." Specifically, 58% expected the situation to "continue for the time being," while 27% predicted it would "become prolonged."

Among the potential impacts of global instability on the livelihood economy, the most cited concern was "increased cost of living due to rising prices" (43%), followed by "increased transportation and logistics costs due to higher oil prices" (25%). By age group, 31% of those aged 18 to 29 were most concerned about increased transportation costs, while nearly 50% of those aged 60 and above were most concerned about increased living expenses.

Regarding the government’s supplemental budget (extra budget bill), 58% of respondents gave a positive response, saying it would "help stabilize people's livelihoods." In particular, over 60% of respondents in their 40s to 60s expressed high expectations for policy measures.

Gyeonggi Province has formulated its first supplemental budget for 2026, increasing the budget by 1.6 trillion won, in line with the government's focus on stabilizing public livelihoods.

This supplemental budget focuses on: ▲responding to high oil prices ▲stabilizing the livelihoods of vulnerable groups ▲minimizing industrial damage. The province plans to concentrate its financial resources to provide thorough support for those falling through the cracks in the livelihood safety net.

In particular, Gyeonggi Province has established a "High Oil Price Relief Fund Task Force (TF)" led by the First Deputy Governor for Administration, and will focus administrative efforts to ensure that the "first round of high oil price relief funds," which will be distributed starting April 27, are delivered to residents promptly and without issue.

Jeong Dooseok, the Director General for Planning and Coordination of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The survey results showing that household financial conditions have deteriorated rapidly in just two months reflect the real difficulties currently faced by residents. We will work closely with the provincial council to ensure the swift execution of the supplemental budget and help ease the burden on residents suffering from high oil prices and inflation."

This survey was commissioned by Gyeonggi Province and conducted by Embrain Public Co., Ltd. through wired and wireless RDD telephone interviews. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

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