They found that household assets and income in Korea have increased significantly over the past year. This is a result of reflecting the growth of asset markets such as finance and real estate due to Corona 19. However, the debt was also close to a record high of 100 million won.
The National Statistical Office, the Bank of Korea, and the Financial Supervisory Service announced the results of the 2022 Household Financial Well-being Survey on the 1st. The survey was conducted with a sample of 20,000 households across the country. As a result of the survey, the size of the asset has been steadily increasing. Although there was an increase in financial assets such as stocks and deposits, the increase in real assets was largely affected by the increase in house prices. The asset growth rate is the second highest after last year (12.8%), which is the highest ever. At the end of March this year, the average household asset was 547.72 million won, up 9.0% from last year. Financial assets and real assets were investigated at 121.26 million won and 426.46 million won, respectively.
Due to the increase in real estate and jeonse prices, the growth rate of real assets was the second highest on record, and the growth rate of financial assets was the third highest. However, this is because the survey was carried out at the end of March, before the impact of the downturn in the real estate market began in earnest this year, and the downturn was not reflected in the second half of this year. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance explained, “The results of this 2022 survey are likely to differ from the current economic situation due to the recent increase in interest rates and the continued decline in real estate prices.”
During the same period, debt increased by 4.2% from 88.01 million won to 91.7 million won. In addition to financial obligations of 68.03 million won, the rental deposit was 23.67 million won. Among financial liabilities, collateral loans amounted to 53.81 million won and credit loans amounted to 10.08 million. Net assets less liabilities rose 10.0% (41.5 million won) to 456.02 million won in one year.
The proportion of households with debt was 63.3%, down 0.3 percentage points (P) from the previous year. By debt payment category, the proportion of households with debts between 110 million and 200 million won was the highest, at 16.5%. Households with debt payments of 300 million or more gained 12.4%.
According to the age group of head of household, the debt of the economically active population between the ages of 15 and 29 increased by 41.2%. Lim Kyung-eun, head of the Welfare Statistics Department at the National Statistical Office, said, “In the case of households under the age of 29, several households were found that acquired financial debt and bought and sold houses with deposits such as jeonse, and this characteristic was reflected in the rate of progress.” It should be taken into account that the volatility is high because the number is very small,” he said.
The amount of debt held by those under 29 was 50.14 million won, the lowest among the age groups. The rate of increase in debt for those in their 50s (6.8%) and those aged 60 or over (6.0%) also stood out. In terms of debt payments, those in their 40s had the most with 123.28 million earned. Those in their 30s and 50s won 113.07 million won and 107.63 million won, respectively.
Compared to the increase in the debt, it was investigated that the burden of repaying the principal and interest was still less. This appears to be due to the base rate, which is close to zero (0) interest rate. Among households with financial debt, 64.4% of households responded that repaying the principal and interest is burdensome, a decrease of 1.2% compared to 2020. However, the burden of household debt is expected to rise significantly in the future as interest rates interest has risen sharply since this year.
As of 2021, the household income surveyed was 64.14 million, an increase of 4.7% compared to 2020. Non-consumption household expenditure such as taxes, public pension, and interest expenses also increased by 5.6% to 11.85 million and earned, and disposable income less non-consumption income and expenditure increased by 4.5% (2.26 million won) from 50.03 million won in 2020. to 52.29 million won.
Income distribution indicators, which show an index of inequality, had mixed results. The Gini coefficient based on disposable income rose slightly from 0.331 in 2020 to 0.333 in 2021. The relative poverty rate improved from 15.3% to 15.1% over the same period. The 5th quintile ratio of equal disposable income, which represents the income gap between high income households and low income households, widened 0.11 times from 5.85 times in 2020 to 5.96 times last year. This means that the average income of the top 20% is 5.96 times that of the bottom 20%.
[표]Economic situation of households (source: Statistics Korea)
※ Assets, liabilities and net assets are at the end of March this year, and income and expenses are at 2021.
Correspondent Kim Min-young mykim@etnews.com
