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Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (Current USD), 2010-2019: $31,846
Share of Household Income, 2010-2019
– Bottom 40%: 21%
– Top 20%: 39%
– Bottom 20%: 8%
Gini Coefficient, 2010-2019: 35
Palma Index of Income Inequality, 2010-2019: 1.4

Note: Gini coefficient – Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.
Palma index of income inequality – Palma index is defined as the ratio of the richest 10% of the population’s share of gross national income divided by the poorest 40%’s share.

Source: United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2023: For every child, vaccination, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Florence, April 2023.

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Population, 2021: 51,740,000
Gross National Income, Atlas Method, Current USD (Billions), 2021: $1,816.73
GNI Per Capita, Atlas Method, Current USD, 2021: $35,110
Income Share Held by Lowest 20%, 2010: 7.3%
Gross Domestic Product, Current USD (Billions), 2021: $1,810.96

Source: World Development Indicators database. Country: Republic of Korea. World Bank. Last accessed November 18, 2023.

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“The Republic of Korea has enjoyed rapid economic growth over recent decades. Its GDP was US$1.1 trillion in 2011, positioning the country as one of the top 15 in terms of economic size worldwide in 2012 (Table 1.2). Nominal GDP per capita was US$22 388 in 2011 while purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP per capita was US$29 786, the result of the country’s relatively low prices for products and services.

“Despite the continued growth of the PPP GDP per capita, the growth of the nominal GDP per capita was interrupted in the years from 1995 to 2000, which can be attributed to the economic crisis of late 1997. One of the direct effects of the economic crisis was the near halving of GDP in US dollars per capita, brought about by the abrupt devaluation of the Korean currency. Though the trend recovered, the per capita GDP in 2000 was below that of the year before the economic crisis set in.”

Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (‎2015)‎. Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated November 18, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.