S.Korea's household assets rise to record high in 2022

Average household net assets in South Korea in 2022 increased 10% to a record 456 million won ($350,000) from a year earlier, while it took longer to buy a first home in the Seoul metropolitan area, statistics data shows.

The percentage increase outpaced the country's consumer inflation of 5% the same year.

According to Statistics Korea’s 2022 social indicators released on Thursday, average household assets, including liabilities, rose 9% on-year to 547.7 million won, with debts crawling up 4.2% to 91.7 million won.

The housing price-to-income ratio (PIR) climbed to the highest level of 10.1 in 2021, versus 8.0 the year previous. That means a household with an average income would need to save their earnings for 10 years without spending any money to buy their first home in the capital Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.

Last year, the ratio is estimated to have inched lower on the back of a decline in home prices amid the economic slowdown.

Statistics Korea began compiling the relevant data in 2017.

AGING, MORE LONELY SOCIETY

As the country’s birth rate has been plummeting below one, the median age rose to 45 years last year, more than double 21.8 in 1980.

Statistics Korea forecasts the median age to spike to 62.2 in 2070.

Almost one-quarter of households, or 22.8%, were led by those 65 or older in 2021. The number nearly doubled, compared to 12.1% in 2000.

About one-fifth of South Koreans, or 19.2% of the respondents of Statistics Korea’s 2022 survey, admitted they felt lonely, with 26.2% of people over 60 feeling more isolated than other age groups.

By income, 41% of the low-income group, or households with a monthly income of 1 million won or below, expressed their loneliness. That compared to 15.6% of those earning more than 6 million won a month.

Regarding the use of smart gadgets, one out of four people, or 24.2%, were addicted to mobile phones and tablets in 2021. In other words, the time they spent on smartphones and tablets was enough to impair their health and relationships.

Write to Eui-Jin Jeong at justjin@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.