S.Korea's household income growth hits record high in Q3

Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-18 16:07:14|Editor: huaxia

SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's household income growth hit a record high in the third quarter owing to economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the government's offer of relief grants to help overcome the pandemic, statistical office data showed Thursday.

The monthly average income of households with one or more family member, which include farming families, stood at 4,729,000 won (about 4,000 U.S. dollars) in the July-September quarter, up 8 percent from the same quarter of last year, according to Statistics Korea.

It was the fastest quarterly increase since relevant data began to be compiled in 2006. The real household income, adjusted for inflation, gained 5.3 percent in the quarter.

Earned income on a monthly average basis expanded 6.2 percent over the year to 2,954,000 won (2,500 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter, while transfer income surged 25.3 percent to 804,000 won (680 U.S. dollars).

The public transfer income soared 30.4 percent in the cited quarter as the government provided stimulus checks to households to stoke the private consumption and help raise the revenue of the self-employed microbusiness owners.

The relief grants recipients were required to spend money on small merchants and microbusiness owners during a pre-determined period.

Business income added 3.7 percent from a year earlier to 885,000 won (750 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter.

Driven by the public transfer income, income disparity among households narrowed in the third quarter.

The monthly average income of households in the bottom 20-percent income bracket spiked 21.5 percent over the year to 1,142,000 won (970 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter, while the income for households in the top 20-percent income group increased 5.7 percent to 10,037,000 won (8,500 U.S. dollars).

The disposable income, divided by the number of family members, among the top 20-percent households was 5.34 times larger than the corresponding figure for the bottom 20-percent households in the third quarter. It was down from 5.92 times tallied a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the monthly average expenditure per household grew 6.6 percent from a year earlier to 3,500,000 won (2,960 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter.

Consumption expenditure picked up 4.9 percent to 2,544,000 won (2,150 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter, recording the highest growth in 10 years.

It came as the government eased anti-virus measures with the country's full vaccination rate topping 70 percent of the total population.

Household spending on clothing and shoes jumped 10 percent in the third quarter, with those on household items, food and beverage, liquor and tobacco, and the eatery and lodging services growing in single digits.

Spending on transport cost advanced 5.8 percent in the third quarter amid a higher global price for crude oil.

Non-consumption expenditure, which includes the payment of tax, social insurance premium and donation, climbed 11.4 percent over the year to 956,000 won (810 U.S. dollars) in the quarter.

The monthly average disposable income, or income minus non-consumption expenditure, per household amounted to 3,773,000 won (3,200 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter, up 7.2 percent from a year ago.

The propensity to consume among households, which measures the ratio of consumption expenditure to disposable income, stood at 67.4 percent in the third quarter, down 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Enditem

KEY WORDS: South Korea,Household Income,ROUNDUP
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