Seoul, 6,213 People Average 1.38817 Billion KRW
Gangwon-do 463 People Triple the Annual Salary... Top Tier Also Shows Regional Disparities
New data showing income disparities between regions has emerged. It compares the average annual salary of the top 0.1% of wage earners by region, revealing that the top-ranked Seoul and the bottom-ranked Gangwon have a staggering threefold difference.
On January 2nd, the first working day of the Year of the Dragon 2024, office workers are hurrying on their way to work near Gwanghwamun Intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@
According to the ‘Status of Wage Income Reporting by City and Province’ received from the National Tax Service by Yang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, in 2022, the total salary of 6,213 people in Seoul belonging to the top 0.1% of wage earners was on average 1,388.17 million KRW. This was the highest amount among the 17 cities and provinces. The region with the lowest total salary for the top 0.1% was Gangwon, where the average for 463 people was 462.68 million KRW. This was about three times less than Seoul, which ranked first.
The second highest was Jeju with 1,006.05 million KRW (216 people). Gyeonggi followed with 949.52 million KRW (4,832 people). The lower rankings after Gangwon were Sejong (472.23 million KRW, 166 people) and Jeonbuk (503.74 million KRW, 536 people).
The total salary amount is the value after deducting non-taxable income such as meal allowances from annual wage income and serves as the basis for year-end tax adjustments and various deductions. The nationwide average total salary for the top 0.1% was 987.98 million KRW.
The city with the most severe income disparity was Seoul. When comparing the income of the top 20% and bottom 20% of wage earners by region, the average annual salary of the top 20% in Seoul was 119.95 million KRW, which was 18.0 times higher than the bottom 20% (6.67 million KRW). Busan (15.5 times) and Gyeonggi (14.6 times) followed.
The region with the lowest income disparity recorded was Sejong at 9.6 times. Chungbuk (11.8 times), Jeonnam (11.8 times), and Jeju (11.9 times) followed.
The region with the highest average salary was Ulsan. Jeju had the lowest average salary. In 2022, the average total salary per worker in Ulsan was 47.36 million KRW. This was the highest among the 17 cities and provinces and was the highest for two consecutive years following 2021 (45.01 million KRW).
Seoul ranked second with 46.83 million KRW. Sejong (44.92 million KRW), where many public officials reside, and Gyeonggi (42.81 million KRW) followed. Seoul saw the largest increase in salary among the 17 cities and provinces, rising by 5.11 million KRW (12.3%) compared to two years ago.
On the other hand, Jeju had the lowest average salary per person at 35.7 million KRW. The gap with first-ranked Ulsan reached 12 million KRW. Jeju also had the lowest salary in 2020 (32.88 million KRW) and 2021 (34.18 million KRW).
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