Top 0.1% of Dividend Income Earners Take Half... Average 800 Million Won

Baseline of 0.1% at 155.65 million KRW

The top 0.1% of dividend income earners received half of the total dividend amount. Their average dividend income far exceeded 800 million won.

On the 23rd, Yang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed concern that "the wealth gap in asset income is severe," based on the 'Dividend Income Percentile' data received from the National Tax Service.

Samsung Electronics 55th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
Photo by Samsung Electronics
Image courtesy of Yonhap News

According to the data, the number of people who reported dividend income in 2022 was 17,236,882. The total reported dividend income was 29.1838 trillion won. The average dividend income per person was about 1.7 million won.

The threshold for the top 0.1% (17,236 people) was 155.65 million won. This means that having dividend income exceeding about 155 million won places one in the top 0.1%. This amount is 3,191 times the median dividend income (49,000 won).

The concentration phenomenon where a very small number of stock-rich individuals receive most of the dividends was clear. The total dividend income earned by the top 0.1% was 14.3358 trillion won. This amount corresponds to 49.1% of the total dividend income of 29.1838 trillion won, meaning the top 0.1% accounted for about half of the income. Their average dividend income was calculated at 832 million won.

The threshold for the top 1% was 17.5 million won. The total dividend income of the top 1% was 20.4966 trillion won, accounting for 70.2% of the total.

The total dividend income increased from 19.6856 trillion won in 2018 to 30.7977 trillion won in 2021 but decreased by about 5% in 2022.

Yang Kyung-sook said, "In a situation where the wealth gap in asset income is severe, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is focused on reducing the tax burden on the ultra-high-income class," adding, "Policy efforts are needed to alleviate inequality and income disparity."

Total Dividends of Top 10 Group Chairpersons Amount to 819.6 Billion Won

The total amount of dividends that the chairpersons of the top 10 domestic groups are expected to receive from listed companies in which they hold shares is expected to exceed 800 billion won last year. On the 14th, Chaebol.com compiled the dividends for the 2023 fiscal year of the top 10 groups with chairpersons among the top asset holders, and the total amount was 819.6 billion won, an increase of 7.3% (55.4 billion won) from 764.2 billion won in the previous year (2022 fiscal year).

The highest dividend for the 2023 business year is Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who will receive a total of 324.4 billion won. However, if half is paid as income tax, the actual amount received is expected to be 178.5 billion won. Based on the actual amount received, the top earner is Cho Jung-ho, chairman of Meritz Financial Group. Since Meritz Financial Group prepared the dividend funds by reducing capital reserves, which are not subject to tax, the entire dividend of 230.6 billion won is expected to be received as is.