(Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s average wage is growing more rapidly than major advanced countries, but the former’s labor productivity is lagging behind due to a decrease in working hours., an expert said.
Park Seo-woo, an analyst at the Korea Industry Alliance Forum, said in an online seminar held on Tuesday that the nation’s average work hours decreased by 9 percent last year compared to 2011, while the average per-hour wage increased by 49 percent.
Compared to 2015 figures, the nation’s purchasing power parity (PPP)-based average wage grew by 20.1 percent, far higher than the U.S. (12.5 percent), Germany (17.9 percent) and Japan (-1.5 percent).
When it comes to average work hours, the nation’s average work hours decreased by 10.6 percent compared to 2015, while the U.S., Germany and Japan saw declines of 1.9 percent, 3.6 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.
“The nation’s average work hours decreased sharply, resulting in more rapid growth in the average per-hour wage compared to rival countries,” Park said.
However, the growth of the nation’s added value-based labor productivity remained low at 9.8 percent compared to 2015, falling behind the inflation-based per-hour average wage growth of 25.6 percent.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
