April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s single-person households saw their income drop at the fastest clip in about four years in the third quarter, government data showed on Nov. 28.

The average income of such households stood at 1.68 million won (US$1,540) in the July-September period, down 3.51 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marks the biggest on-year drop since the 3.54 percent decline during the fourth quarter of 2015. The income of one-member households has fallen for four quarters on end.

It is also the first time in eight years that single-person households’ income has decreased for four consecutive quarters.

The drop in one-person households‘ income was attributed to a 4.4 percent fall in earned income, which takes up the bulk of their earnings.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)