S. Korea's national assets hit new high in 2021
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South Korea's overall wealth grew more than 11 percent on-year to a new record high in 2021 thanks mainly to increased property prices, central bank data showed Thursday.
The country's national assets had come to 19,808.8 trillion won ($15.08 trillion) as of the end of last year, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the national balance sheet from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the highest on-year growth rate since 2007, when national assets surged 13.3 percent.
The BOK attributed the increase mainly to a sharp rise in the value of non-productive assets, such as land and homes.
The net value of non-financial assets purchased last year expanded by 229 billion won from the previous year.
Real estate accounted for 74.4 percent of the national assets last year, compared with 74.8 percent a year earlier.
The central bank also estimated the country's per-household net assets at 544.8 million won in 2021, up about 8 percent from the prior year thanks to higher property prices.
Land, homes and other buildings took up 75.3 percent of local households' net worth, according to the data. (Yonhap)