Number of people living in extreme poverty in South Korea
South Korea: Number of people living in extreme poverty was 51.72 million people in 2021. ▲ Rising
Number of people living in extreme poverty in South Korea, 2006–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 51.72 million people for number of people living in extreme poverty in 2021.
That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and up 4.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in extreme poverty in South Korea peaked at 51.78 million people in 2020 and was at its lowest, 48.20 million people, in 2006.
South Korea ranks 24th of 120 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Number of people living in extreme poverty in South Korea, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 48.20 million people | — |
| 2008 | 48.81 million people | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 49.31 million people | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 49.95 million people | +1.3% |
| 2014 | 50.59 million people | +1.3% |
| 2016 | 51.12 million people | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 51.26 million people | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 51.48 million people | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 51.66 million people | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 51.78 million people | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 51.72 million people | -0.1% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 51.72 million people is above the median for high income countries, which is 9.58 million people, 5.4× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 51.72 million people is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 71.66 million people, 72% of the median. (11 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 48.50 million people | 48.20 million people | 48.81 million people | 2 |
| 2010s | 50.77 million people | 49.31 million people | 51.66 million people | 7 |
| 2020s | 51.75 million people | 51.72 million people | 51.78 million people | 2 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More poverty & inequality data for South Korea
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 6 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 0.72 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 6,615 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 0.0454 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 26.87 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 26.9% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in extreme poverty in South Korea?
- Number of people living in extreme poverty in South Korea was 51.72 million people in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 51.78 million people in 2020.
- What is the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 48.20 million people in 2006.
- How does South Korea rank for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- South Korea ranks 24th out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption above $3 per day.