Household income up 2.4% in Q1 on wage hike, more pensioners

Shoppers buy groceries at a supermarket in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

Korea's average household income rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, driven by an increase in wages and a rise in the number of pensioners, government data showed Thursday.

The average monthly income of households came to 5.48 million won ($3,649) in the January-March period, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Considering inflation, the household income rose 0.4 percent on-year in the first quarter.

Income earned through wages edged up 0.3 percent in the cited period to an average of 3.42 million won per month, due mainly to a rise in salaries among employees.

The average monthly income from business operations came to 925,000 won, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier.

Transfer income jumped 9.7 percent to 964,000 won, following a rise in the number of beneficiaries under the National Pension Service, which totaled 7.59 million in January, up 7 percent from a year earlier.

Monthly household spending grew 4.2 percent to 4.24 million won amid rising consumer prices in the wake of the Middle East war.

Of the expenditures, consumption spending, which refers to household purchase of goods and services, jumped 5.3 percent to 3.1 million won.

The data ministry attributed the increase to higher spending on transportation and health care services, as well as dining out and accommodation.

Non-consumption spending, which includes taxes, insurance premiums and interest payments, rose 1.2 percent to 1.13 million won.

The average monthly income of the bottom 20 percent income bracket rose 2.7 percent on-year to 1.17 million won.

Those in the top 20 percent group earned 12.37 million won, up 4.2 percent from a year earlier, amid bonuses paid by conglomerates following the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

The country's distribution ratio for disposable income, a key barometer of income equality, reached 6.59 in the first quarter, up from 6.32 a year earlier. A higher ratio indicates wider income inequality.

It implies that the top 20 percent income bracket earned 6.59 times more than those in the bottom 20 percent during the cited period.

"The government will focus efforts on stabilizing people's livelihoods by closely managing the prices and supply of products tied to daily living and offering support to vulnerable groups, along with efforts to address economic disparities," the finance ministry said.