Corporate Tax Revenue in Gwangju and Jeonnam Plunges to Five-Year Low

Gwangju Down 31.6%, Jeonnam Down 7.4%

As the economic downturn continues, corporate tax revenue in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions last year fell to its lowest level in five years.

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According to the National Tax Statistics Portal of the National Tax Service on May 25, 2025, corporate tax collected by the Gwangju Regional Tax Office in 2024 amounted to 812.31 billion won in Gwangju and 618.36 billion won in Jeonnam. Compared to the previous year, this represents a decrease of 31.6% in Gwangju and 7.4% in Jeonnam.

Corporate tax revenue in both regions is at its lowest level since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. In Gwangju, revenue dropped from 1.017054 trillion won in 2019 to 907.53 billion won in 2020 and 963.558 billion won in 2021, before recovering to 1.402157 trillion won in 2022. However, it declined again to 1.188645 trillion won in 2023 and fell to the 800 billion won range in 2024.

In Jeonnam, corporate tax revenue decreased from 787.649 billion won in 2019 to 549.557 billion won in 2020, then rose to 1.302289 trillion won in 2022, but dropped to 667.78 billion won in 2023 and further declined to the 618 billion won range in 2024.

In Gwangju, the main factors are shrinking consumer spending and a downturn in the manufacturing and construction industries. In Jeonnam, global oversupply and sluggish conditions in the petrochemical industry are cited as the primary reasons.

An official from the Gwangju Regional Tax Office stated, "Based on corporate tax filings as of March this year, there appears to have been some improvement compared to last year, but it is still difficult to say that a rebound has occurred."