Households Spend an Average of 2.93 Million Won a Month on Basic Living Costs, While Income Inequality Widens

The Financial News reported that Korean households spent an average of 2.93 million won per month last year on basic living expenses such as food, clothing, and housing. Average annual household income in 2024 was 74.27 million won, an increase of 2.42 million won from the previous year. The Gini coefficient for equivalized disposable income, which measures income inequality, stood at 0.325, up 0.002 points year-on-year. Per capita Gross National Income (GNI), which reflects the average standard of living, was 36,855 dollars, roughly unchanged from a year earlier. Overall life satisfaction improved, but alcohol consumption and crime rates both increased. The mortality rate from Alzheimer’s disease also rose to nearly three times the level of 10 years ago.
On the 31st, the Ministry of Data and Statistics released the "2025 Social Indicators of Korea," which contains these findings.
In summary, national wealth and life expectancy have increased, but income inequality and crime rates have worsened.
Last year, nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 2,663.3 trillion won. The nominal economic growth rate was 4.2%, while real growth was 1.0%. Per capita GNI reached 36,855 dollars, only a 0.3 percentage point increase from 36,745 dollars a year earlier.
Average annual household income in 2024 was 74.27 million won, up 2.42 million won from the previous year. However, households headed by someone under 30 earned 45.09 million won on average, down from 47.2 million won a year earlier.
Kim Seoyoung, Director of the Social Statistics Planning Division at the Ministry of Data and Statistics, explained, "Except for households headed by someone in their 60s or older, household income generally increased with age."
Average monthly household consumption expenditure was 2.939 million won, up 49,000 won from 2.89 million won the previous year. By category, the largest shares went to food and accommodation (15.8%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (15.3%), housing, water, and utilities (12.3%), and transport (11.5%).
By age group, households headed by someone in their 40s spent the most, at 3.847 million won per month. They were followed by those in their 50s (3.535 million won), those under 40 (2.824 million won), and those 60 or older (2.212 million won).
Income gaps between social groups widened.
Households in the middle-income third quintile earned an average of 58.05 million won, an increase of just 1.8%. This was the smallest gain among all income groups.
By contrast, the top fifth income group earned an average of 173.38 million won, up 4.4%. The bottom fifth earned 15.52 million won on average, a 3.1% increase.
Income inequality has therefore deepened.
The Gini coefficient for equivalized disposable income was 0.325, up 0.002 points from the previous year. The Gini coefficient ranges from 0 to 1, where 0 represents perfect equality and 1 represents complete inequality.
The income quintile share ratio, which divides the average income of the top 20% by that of the bottom 20%, was 5.78, up 0.06 points.
The relative poverty rate, defined as the share of people whose disposable income is below 50% of the median (the poverty line), was 15.3%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
Crime also increased. In 2024, there were 3,343 crimes per 100,000 people, up 7.1% (222 cases) from 3,121 the previous year. The number of homicides per 100,000 people also rose.
Social conflict intensified, particularly along ideological and political lines. The conflicts that people perceived as most serious were between conservatives and progressives (80.7%), between the poor and the middle and upper classes (74.0%), and between workers and employers (69.1%).
Life expectancy increased to 83.7 years, up 0.2 years. However, deaths from cancer and Alzheimer’s disease also rose.
Cancer (malignant neoplasms) remained the leading cause of death. There were 174.3 cancer deaths per 100,000 people. Heart disease (65.7 deaths) and Pneumonia (59.0 deaths) followed.
The mortality rate from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was 23.9 deaths per 100,000 people, 2.7 times higher than in 2014, when it was 8.7.
People are also drinking more. The monthly drinking rate among those aged 19 and older was 55.7%, up 0.6 percentage points from 55.1% the previous year.
Housing supply has increased.
In 2024, there were 442.8 housing units per 1,000 people, up 5.8 units from 437.0 a year earlier. Compared with 2015, when there were 383.0 units per 1,000 people, the figure has risen by 59.8 units.
North Gyeongsang Province (521.0 units) and South Jeolla Province (507.9 units) had the most housing units per 1,000 people. The fewest were in Gyeonggi Province (399.3 units), Incheon Metropolitan City (410.5 units), and Seoul (418.6 units).
Even so, the share of households living below the minimum housing standard in 2024 was 3.8%, up 0.2 percentage points from 3.6% the previous year. This is the first increase since 2017.
skjung@fnnews.com Jung Sang-geun Reporter