Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in South Korea
South Korea: Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median was 6.8% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in South Korea, 2006–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2021, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in South Korea stood at 6.8%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 7.9% on the previous year and down 10.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in South Korea peaked at 9.5% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 6.3%, in 2020.
That places South Korea 49th out of 120 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 7.6% | — |
| 2008 | 8.0% | +5.3% |
| 2010 | 7.6% | -5.0% |
| 2012 | 7.9% | +3.9% |
| 2014 | 7.1% | -10.1% |
| 2016 | 9.5% | +33.8% |
| 2017 | 9.4% | -1.1% |
| 2018 | 8.0% | -14.9% |
| 2019 | 7.2% | -10.0% |
| 2020 | 6.3% | -12.5% |
| 2021 | 6.8% | +7.9% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 6.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 6.5%, 1.0× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 6.8% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 5.1%, 1.3× the median. (11 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.8% | 7.6% | 8.0% | 2 |
| 2010s | 8.1% | 7.1% | 9.5% | 7 |
| 2020s | 6.5% | 6.3% | 6.8% | 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 relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in South Korea?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in South Korea was 6.8% in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 9.5% in 2016.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.3% in 2020.
- How does South Korea rank for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median?
- South Korea ranks 49th out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median. 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
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 40% of the median.