Polarization of Stock Assets from Infants to Toddlers... 81-Fold Stock Asset Gap Among Elementary, Middle, and High School Students

"580,000 'Student Donghak Ants' Own 4.5 Trillion Won
Largest Stock Asset Gap Among Age Groups"

Among the 755 trillion KRW worth of domestic listed stocks held by individual investors last year, 4.5321 trillion KRW was held by elementary, middle, and high school students, and it was analyzed that the gap in their stock assets was the largest among all age groups.

On the 10th, an analysis by the office of Ando-geol, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, based on data from the Korea Securities Depository, revealed that 581,257 "student Donghak ants" aged 8 to 19 attending elementary, middle, and high schools held a total of 4.5321 trillion KRW.

Students are filling out answer sheets at Yongsan High School in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

This age group showed the largest gap in domestic stock assets, with 2,921 individuals holding more than 100 million KRW owning an average of 452.93 million KRW each, while 144,584 individuals holding less than 100 million KRW owned an average of 5.55 million KRW each. The per capita stock asset gap among them was 81.6 times.

The second largest asset gap among domestic listed stock investors was found in their 20s. Among those in their 20s holding less than 100 million KRW, the average stock asset per person was 5.28 million KRW, whereas 13,493 individuals holding more than 100 million KRW owned an average of 351.2 million KRW each, showing a 66.4 times difference.

For preschool children under 8 years old, the per capita stock asset gap was about 57.1 times. The "infant and toddler Donghak ants" numbered 180,471, holding a total of 1.0805 trillion KRW. Among them, 508 individuals owning more than 100 million KRW held an average of 295.44 million KRW worth of domestic stocks each. The 179,963 infants and toddlers owning less than 100 million KRW had an average of 5.17 million KRW each.

The top 7.7%, known as the "1 million Donghak ants," held a total of 585.794 trillion KRW in listed stocks, averaging 543.37 million KRW per person. The bottom 92.3%, totaling 12.93 million people, held an average of 12.77 million KRW each, showing a 42.6 times asset gap per person compared to the "wealthy Donghak ants."

In particular, 8.76 million people (the bottom 62.22%) holding less than 10 million KRW had an average holding of about 2.3 million KRW per person, totaling 20 trillion KRW, accounting for only about 2% of the total stock market value. On the other hand, 3,101 individuals (the top 0.02%) holding more than 10 billion KRW had an average holding of about 78 billion KRW each, totaling 242 trillion KRW. This accounted for 32% of the total stock market value.

Representative Ahn said, "Given the severe polarization of stock assets, the current situation where the tax system related to financial investment income is insufficient needs improvement," but added, "Since there is strong tax resistance regarding the introduction of a financial investment income tax, efforts to establish a consensus by preparing countermeasures for concerns such as large-scale outflows from the domestic stock market by some individual investors should be prioritized."