🇰🇷Average income in South Korea

Key numbers

South Korea among its neighbours

What this number is, and is not

GNI per capita is South Korea's gross national income divided by its population. National income is everything residents earn in a year: wages, company profits, rent, interest, plus net income from abroad. Dividing by every resident, including children and pensioners, gives $64,210. The PPP conversion prices it in international dollars, so a dollar here buys roughly what a dollar buys in the United States.

It is not a median salary, and it is not take-home pay. It is before tax, it includes income that never reaches a payslip, and it is an average, which the highest earners pull upwards. The typical worker in South Korea earns less than $64,210. How much less depends on inequality and on how many residents are of working age, neither of which this one number shows.

South Korea is above the world figure of $25,517 and has 47% of the income per person of Singapore, the top of our list at $135,750.

Questions

What is the average income in South Korea?

$64,210 per person per year, measured as GNI per capita at purchasing power parity (World Bank, 2025). Spread over twelve months that is about $5,351. It is the country's total income divided by every resident, including children and retirees, so it is a national average rather than a wage.

Is $64,210 what a typical worker in South Korea earns?

No. The figure is before tax, counts company profits and rents as well as wages, and is averaged over the whole population. The median worker takes home less than this in every country, because a small number of high earners pull the average up. For an individual's position in South Korea's income distribution, use the income test on this site.

How does South Korea compare to Malta?

Malta ranks 26th at $64,900, $690 more per person than South Korea. Against the world figure of $25,517, South Korea is 2.5 times it and Malta is 2.5 times it.