Nearly 4 in 10 South Korean middle-income earners saw income fall

South Korea’s National Data Statistics Office found that 38.9% of middle-income people had lower work or business income in 2024 than in 2023.

The group is people who were in the third income fifth in 2023, based on earnings from work and business.

The share with falling income was the highest since 2020, when the COVID-19 shock hit the economy.

It had declined for three years, reaching 35.1% in 2023, before rising by 3.8 percentage points.

Meanwhile, the share whose income increased fell to 57.3%, down from 63.0% a year earlier.

Income losses also became more common in the second, fourth and highest income groups, while the share fell slightly in the lowest group.

The figures come as South Korea’s economy is expected to grow faster on the strength of a semiconductor boom, but the gains may be concentrated among higher-income households.