The average South Korean worker received approximately 10.69 million won in bonuses last year, while the top 0.1% of earners collected bonuses exceeding 620 million won. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEJONG, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The average South Korean worker received approximately 10.69 million won in bonuses last year, while the top 0.1% of earners collected bonuses exceeding 620 million won, highlighting significant income disparities in the workforce, according to new government data.
Figures released by the National Tax Service and obtained by People Power Party lawmaker Park Seong-hoon show that 9.87 million workers reported receiving bonuses for the 2023 tax year. The data reveals a slight decline in average bonus payments from 11.13 million won in 2022 and 10.73 million won in 2021.
The disparity becomes particularly stark at the highest income levels. Workers in the top 0.1% received average bonuses of 626.98 million won – approximately 144.1 times the median bonus payment of 4.35 million won. Regional differences were also pronounced, with Seoul-based workers in the top 0.1% receiving average bonuses of 997.55 million won, followed by Gyeonggi Province at 614.42 million won. In contrast, workers in Gangwon and Sejong provinces received significantly lower amounts, averaging 137.2 million won and 162.82 million won respectively.
The data further shows that the top 1% of bonus recipients averaged 158.11 million won, while the top 10% received 54.69 million won. The contrast between income brackets is particularly evident when comparing the top 20% of workers, who received average bonuses of 19.57 million won, with the bottom 20%, who received just 550,000 won.
“Despite reports of reduced bonuses among high-income earners due to poor corporate performance during the economic downturn, the wage gap remains severe,” said Park. He emphasized the urgent need for labor market reforms, including improvements in working conditions for non-regular workers and structural changes to address these economic disparities.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
