IMF expects Korean income to rise to $30,000 in 2015

By Kang Seung-woo

Korea is estimated to attain $30,000 in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time by 2015, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday.

In addition, purchasing power parity-based per capita GDP is expected to surpass $40,000 in 2016.

The recent World Economic Outlook Database of the IMF forecast that the per capita GDP of the nation will grow to $31,733 in 2015.

Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, managed to reach the $20,000 level, at $20,756, last year and is estimated to reach $23,749 this year.

The Washington-based organization also forecast that the nation’s per-capita GDP will be on a steady rise, as it is likely to attain $25,948 in 2012, followed by $27,702 in 2013 and $29,652 in 2014, to reach $33,948 in 2016.

The next year’s reading for per capita GDP was ranked 28th out of 34 advanced economies, including France, Germany, Japan and the United States, and it will move up by two notches in 2016, the IMF said.

Among the 34 countries, Luxembourg topped the list for next year’s per capita GDP with $126,325, followed by Norway and Switzerland, at $98,682 and $92,166, respectively.

The United States, the world’s largest economy, is estimated at $49,054, while Japan is likely to be $47,960 and Germany with $45,619, the IMF noted.

The latest outlook may come as a disappointment for the Lee Myung-bak administration, which has sought the so-called “747” plan aimed at achieving 7-percent annual GDP growth, $40,000 per-capita GDP, and becoming the seventh largest economy in the world all before Lee’s term ends in February 2013.

The data also showed that Korea’s per capita buying power outnumbered its per capita GDP.

Unlike conventional gauges, purchasing power parity (PPP)-based per capita GDP measures how many goods or services can be bought with nominal national output, and is used to identify actual living standards. Its purchasing power parity PPP-based per capita GDP is estimated to grow to $40,361 in 2016.

Next year, the index is likely to come to $33,396, the 21st highest among the aforementioned 34 advanced economies, followed by $34,928 in 2013, $36,537 in 2014 and $38,360 in 2015 before eclipsing the $40,000 mark.

The portion of its PPP-based per capita GDP in the world economy will stay at 1.97 percent in 2012, followed by 1.98 percent in 2013.