1.8 Million Self-Employed Increased Over 5 Years... Annual Income Falls Below 20 Million Won

Yang Kyung-sook, Democratic Party Office Data
1.842 Million Self-Employed Increased Over 5 Years
Annual Income Dropped from 21.7 Million to 19.52 Million During Same Period

It has been revealed that the number of self-employed individuals has increased by 1.8 million over the past five years. However, their annual income has steadily declined, falling below the 20 million won mark. The 'wealth gap' among self-employed individuals is also deepening.

On the 3rd, the worries of self-employed business owners deepened as cosmetic stores in Myeongdong, Seoul, closed down, leaving the streets quiet. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

According to data received by Yang Kyung-sook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the National Tax Service on the 6th, the number of self-employed individuals (those who reported business income among comprehensive income tax filers) in 2021 was 6,568,000. Compared to 4,726,000 in 2017, this is an increase of 1,842,000. The number increased annually to 5,022,000 in 2018, 5,309,000 in 2019, and 5,517,000 in 2020.

However, during the same period, annual income steadily decreased. It dropped from 21.7 million won in 2017 to 21.36 million won in 2018, 21.15 million won in 2019, and 20.49 million won in 2020, recording 19.52 million won in 2021, falling below the 20 million won threshold. The average income of the bottom 20% of self-employed individuals decreased by 55%, from 1.869 million won in 2017 to 841,000 won. In contrast, the average income of the top 1% increased by 5%, from 485.46 million won to 509.77 million won during the same period. This indicates that the 'wealth gap' among self-employed individuals is widening.