Per Capita Net Worth Rises to 274.75 Million Won on Gains in Domestic Stocks and Home Prices

Last year, household net worth per person in South Korea rose above 270 million won. The increase was driven by higher real estate and stock prices.
According to the Bank of Korea's '2025 National Balance Sheet (preliminary)' released on the 22nd, household net worth per person at the end of last year was estimated at 274.75 million won. That was up 9.1%, or 22.91 million won, from the previous year’s 251.84 million won.
The main driver was the increase in real estate assets. Construction assets and land assets held by households and nonprofit institutions rose 2.5% and 5.9%, respectively. Total real estate assets reached 17,836 trillion won, up 4.1%, or 709 trillion won, from a year earlier. Nam Min-ho, head of the National B/S Team at the Bank of Korea's Economic Statistics Department 2, explained, "Although broad real estate measures were announced, housing price growth remained at a high level. We judge that the impact was not very large."
Another factor was the boom in the domestic stock market. Net financial assets held by households and nonprofit institutions totaled 3,767 trillion won, up 21.8%, or 674 trillion won, from a year earlier. That was the largest increase since 2009, when the figure rose 26.5%.
At the market exchange rate of 1,422 won to the dollar, household net worth per person comes to $193,000. Based on 2024 figures, that is below the United States ($514,000), Australia ($422,000), and Canada ($297,000), but slightly above Japan ($172,000).
National net worth, which represents the assets held by all economic agents and is commonly referred to as national wealth, stood at 24,561 trillion won. It was up 2.2%, or 531 trillion won, from the previous year, but the pace of growth was about half as large.
The reason was that nonfinancial assets, at 23,291 trillion won, grew 3.8%, or 857 trillion won, over the year, while net financial assets, at 1,271 trillion won, shrank 20.4%, or 326 trillion won. Net financial assets fell for the first time in five years, since 2020, as the growth rate of financial liabilities, at 13.6%, exceeded that of financial assets, at 11.4%. Nam said, "Last year, the KOSPI's gain was 4.6 times that of the Standard & Poor's 500 and 4.1 times that of the Euro Stoxx." He added, "Because of that gap, the increase in financial liabilities far outpaced the increase in financial assets."
[email protected] Kim Tae-il Reporter