Korea's wealth gap hits record on surging assets of top earners

Income and wealth disparities between top- and bottom-tier households widened further over the past year, pushing all major distribution indicators in a negative direction as net asset inequality reached its highest recorded level, the Ministry of Data and Statistics said Thursday. In its 2025 Report on the Survey of Household Finances and Living Conditions, the ministry said that average household assets stood at 566.8 million won ($385,000) as of March, a 4.9 percent increase from a year earlier. Average household debt rose 4.4 percent to 95.3 million won. As a result, average net assets, which reflect total assets minus liabilities, reached 471.4 million won, up 5 percent year-on-year. By income group, households in the bottom 20 percent saw their net assets fall 4.9 percent, while all groups from the second quintile upward recorded gains. The increases were especially pronounced among higher-income households, with net assets in the fourth and fifth quintiles rising 4.7 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. Households in the top 20 percent held 47.3 percent of the nation’s total neWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times