Korea's per capita gross national income (GNI) last year was tallied at about $36,900, up 0.3% from a year earlier. It was surpassed by both Japan and Taiwan. The economic growth rate came in at 1%, the same as the previously released advance estimate.
According to the "provisional gross national income for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025" released by the Bank of Korea on the 10th, last year's per capita GNI was $36,855, rising just 0.3% from 2024 ($36,745). In won terms, it was 52,416,000 won, up 4.6% from the previous year (50,120,000 won).
Korea's per capita GNI in dollar terms first entered the $30,000 range in 2014 ($30,798) and steadily increased to $37,898 in 2021. However, in 2022, aggressive U.S. rate hikes weakened the won, pushing it down to $35,229. It then rose 2.7%, 1.5% and 0.3% in 2023 ($36,195), 2024 ($36,745) and last year, respectively, but remains stuck in the $36,000 range.
Among countries with populations of 50 million or more, it ranked seventh after the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan. Japan's per capita GNI was lower than Korea's in 2023 and 2024, but it topped $38,000 last year, overtaking Korea again. Taiwan also posted $40,585 last year, surpassing Korea for the first time in 23 years since 2002.
Kim Hwayong, Director General of national income statistics at the Bank of Korea (BOK), said, "In December last year, Japan expanded its economic size in the process of revising its base year from 2015 to 2020." Typically, when the base year is revised, economic activities not previously reflected in GDP are included, tending to enlarge the economy.
Kim, the Director General, also said, "Taiwan's information technology (IT) manufacturing sector is three times the size of Korea's, so its growth from the semiconductor boom was steeper than Korea's." According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), IT manufacturing accounts for 22.5% of Taiwan's economy, higher than Korea's 7.3%.
Last year's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was 2,663.3 trillion won in won terms and $1,872.7 billion in dollar terms. Nominal GDP in won grew 4.2% from a year earlier, but in dollar terms it fell 0.1%. As the average won-dollar exchange rate last year came to 1,422 won—higher than during the 1998 foreign exchange crisis (1,395 won)—the growth rate converted into dollars backtracked.
The provisional real GDP growth rate for last year was tallied at 1%, the same as the advance estimate released in January. It is the lowest since 2020 (-0.7%), when COVID-19 was spreading. After rebounding to 4.6% in 2021, real GDP growth has trended downward to 2.7% in 2022, 1.6% in 2023 and 2% in 2024.
The GDP deflator rose 3.1% from a year earlier. Compared with 2024 (4.1%), it fell by 1 percentage point (p). The GDP deflator, calculated by dividing nominal GDP by real GDP, is a comprehensive price index that encompasses all price factors affecting national income.
The fourth-quarter growth rate came to -0.2%, slightly improved from the advance estimate (-0.3%) as some performance data from December last year that were not included in the advance were reflected.
In the fourth quarter, government consumption (1.3%), construction investment (-3.5%), exports (-1.7%), imports (-1.5%) and facility investment (-1.7%) were each 0.7 percentage point, 0.4 percentage point, 0.4 percentage point, 0.2 percentage point and 0.1 percentage point higher. Investment in intellectual property products (-0.5%) worsened by 0.1 percentage point. Private consumption (0.3%) and inventory changes (0.3%) were the same as the advance estimate.
Last year's gross savings rate was 35.3%, up 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier. The household net savings rate was 7.9%, down 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. The gross domestic investment rate also shrank from 29.6% in 2024 to 28.7% last year.