A person takes a photo of apartment buildings in downtown Seoul from a skyscraper on June 13, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of South Koreans who made an interim withdrawal from their retirement pension in 2021 to buy a home reached an all-time high, government data showed Monday, as the country’s housing prices have skyrocketed over the past couple of years.
According to the data from Statistics Korea, 55,000 people withdrew money from retirement pensions last year, down 20.9 percent year on year, with the aggregate amount of the withdrawals estimated at 1.9 trillion won (US$1.45 billion), down 25.9 percent year on year.
The statistics agency said that the number of people and the value of the withdrawals both declined last year due to strengthened provisions on interim withdrawals resulting from the revision of the Retirement Allowance Act.
Nonetheless, however, the number of people who made interim withdrawals from retirement pensions to buy homes stood at 30,000 (54.4 percent), up 1.8 percent year on year.
This figure was the highest since related statistical data started being compiled in 2015, with the aggregate value of withdrawals to buy homes estimated at about 1.3 trillion won.
The number of people who made interim withdrawals for the purpose of renting homes also reached 15,000, or 27.2 percent of the total.
By age, most of those who made interim withdrawals from retirement pensions were in their 30s (45.1 percent) or 40s (31 percent).
In particular, throughout all age groups, excluding those in their 20s, those who made interim withdrawals to buy homes accounted for the largest share of the total.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
