April 24, 2024
Economy
Real income growth rises lower than GDP
[THE INVESTOR] The growth of real income of Koreans has risen at a slower pace than that of economic growth over the past five years, government data showed on June 7.
The average real income of local businesses with at least five employees was 3.39 million (US$3,000) per month last year, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the finance and labor ministries.
It is on par with the country’s real gross domestic product growth that stood at 2.8 percent last year.
In previous years, however, the country’s GDP growth consistently outpaced real income gains as the country on the whole did not do a good job in sharing the fruits of its gains with workers.
The economy expanded a real 2.8 percent and 3.3 percent in 2015 and 2014, respectively, compared with a 2.7 percent gain and a 1.2 percent rise in actual income over the same period. In 2013, economic growth marked 2.9 percent, while real income trailed at 2.5 percent.
Over the past five-year period, the GDP went up 2.82 percent on average, vis-a-vis the 2.46 percent rise in real income growth.
Even worse, the GDP growth averaged 4.18 percent during the 2000-2016 period, but the income increased 2.52 percent.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
The average real income of local businesses with at least five employees was 3.39 million (US$3,000) per month last year, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the finance and labor ministries.
It is on par with the country’s real gross domestic product growth that stood at 2.8 percent last year.
In previous years, however, the country’s GDP growth consistently outpaced real income gains as the country on the whole did not do a good job in sharing the fruits of its gains with workers.
The economy expanded a real 2.8 percent and 3.3 percent in 2015 and 2014, respectively, compared with a 2.7 percent gain and a 1.2 percent rise in actual income over the same period. In 2013, economic growth marked 2.9 percent, while real income trailed at 2.5 percent.
Over the past five-year period, the GDP went up 2.82 percent on average, vis-a-vis the 2.46 percent rise in real income growth.
Even worse, the GDP growth averaged 4.18 percent during the 2000-2016 period, but the income increased 2.52 percent.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
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