Roughly 8 out of every 10 individuals in the top 1 percent of income earners are concentrated in metropolitan areas. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEJONG, Oct. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – Roughly 8 out of every 10 individuals in the top 1 percent of income earners are concentrated in metropolitan areas. This highlights a pronounced concentration of high-quality employment opportunities in urban regions, leading to concerns regarding regional disparities.
Data from the National Tax Service, presented to the National Assembly and made public on Monday, reveals that in 2021, there were a total of 190,591 earners in the top 1 percent category based on their attributed labor income. These individuals collectively earned a total income of 63.4 trillion won, averaging 317 million won per person.
Of this group, 153,932 individuals, or 77.1 percent, were employed in metropolitan areas such as Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon. Among the 17 local governments, Seoul had the largest number of top 1 percent earners, with 88,885 individuals (44.5 percent), followed by Gyeonggi Province with 59,460 (29.8 percent), and Busan with 7,656 (3.8 percent).
Excluding Sejong, a region with a specialized profile that had 461 high-income earners, the lowest number of top 1 percent income earners was found on Jeju Island, with just 1,146 individuals.
Moreover, when looking at the number of top 1 percent earners per 100,000 residents, the Seoul metropolitan area displayed the highest figures. Seoul had the greatest concentration of top 1 percent earners per 100,000 people at 938, followed by Gyeonggi Province at 436, Ulsan at 263, Busan at 230, and Daejeon at 205.
On the other hand, regions such as Gangwon Province (114), North Jeolla Province (121), Sejong (126), and South Jeolla Province (149) had fewer high-income earners relative to their populations.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
