Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in South Korea
South Korea: Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax was 0.4321 in 2022. ▲ Rising
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in South Korea, 1982–2022
Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2022, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in South Korea stood at 0.4321.
The figure is down 1.3% on the previous year and down 1.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in South Korea peaked at 0.4587 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.3499, in 1996.
South Korea ranks 78th of 109 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.
Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 0.4152 | — |
| 1991 | 0.3738 | -10.0% |
| 1996 | 0.3499 | -6.4% |
| 2000 | 0.3872 | +10.7% |
| 2007 | 0.4379 | +13.1% |
| 2008 | 0.4454 | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 0.4412 | -0.9% |
| 2010 | 0.4587 | +4.0% |
| 2011 | 0.4501 | -1.9% |
| 2012 | 0.4387 | -2.5% |
| 2013 | 0.4246 | -3.2% |
| 2014 | 0.4275 | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 0.4294 | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 0.45 | +4.8% |
| 2017 | 0.4561 | +1.4% |
| 2018 | 0.4448 | -2.5% |
| 2019 | 0.4345 | -2.3% |
| 2020 | 0.4312 | -0.8% |
| 2021 | 0.4379 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | 0.4321 | -1.3% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.4321 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.3617, 1.2× the median. (43 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.4321 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.5317, 81% of the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.4152 | 0.4152 | 0.4152 | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.3619 | 0.3499 | 0.3738 | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.4279 | 0.3872 | 0.4454 | 4 |
| 2010s | 0.4414 | 0.4246 | 0.4587 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4337 | 0.4312 | 0.4379 | 3 |
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 income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in South Korea?
- Income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax in South Korea was 0.4321 in 2022, according to World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4587 in 2010.
- What is the lowest income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3499 in 1996.
- How does South Korea rank for income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax?
- South Korea ranks 78th out of 109 countries with data for 2022.
- Is income inequality: gini coefficient before and after tax rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality: Gini coefficient before and after tax. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Inequality is measured here in terms of income after taxes and benefits.