South Korean workers reported an average annual income of 43.32 million won in 2023, an increase of more than 1 million won from the previous year. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean workers reported an average annual income of 43.32 million won in 2023, an increase of more than 1 million won from the previous year, according to year-end tax settlement data.
The number of high-income earners making over 100 million won annually reached 1.39 million, while 33% of workers were exempt from paying income tax.
The total number of workers filing year-end tax returns increased by 320,000 (1.5%) from the previous year to 20.85 million. Of these, 6.89 million workers, or 33% of the total, were exempt from income tax with zero tax liability.
The average total salary showed a 2.8% (1.19 million won) increase to 43.32 million won, continuing a five-year upward trend. However, the average tax liability decreased by 1.4% (60,000 won) to 4.28 million won from the previous year’s 4.34 million won, due to adjustments in income tax bracket thresholds.
High-income earners making over 100 million won annually represented 6.7% of all filers, up 0.3 percentage points from 6.4% the previous year, indicating a growing trend in the proportion of high-income workers.
Among metropolitan cities and provinces, Ulsan recorded the highest average salary at 49.60 million won, followed by Seoul (47.97 million won) and Sejong (45.66 million won).
The number of workers claiming child tax credits in their 2023 year-end tax settlements decreased by 6.6% to 2,422,000, showing a downward trend.
The data also revealed that 611,000 foreign workers filed year-end tax returns. By nationality, Chinese workers made up the largest proportion at 31.1% (190,000), followed by Vietnamese (8.5%) and Nepalese (7.4%). Foreign workers reported an average annual income of 32.78 million won and an average tax liability of 1.91 million won.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
