Monthly wage income rises 2.7 pct in 2023 on higher earnings in construction, lodging

SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- The average monthly salary of wage earners in South Korea increased 2.7 percent on-year in 2023, driven by higher incomes in the construction sector and the lodging and food service industry, data showed Tuesday.

The average monthly wage stood at 3.63 million won (US$2,530) as of December 2023, up 100,000 won from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

Employees in the construction sector saw their average monthly salary rise 5.6 percent on-year to 3.17 million won, while workers in the lodging and food service industry earned 1.81 million won, up 5.2 percent.

Workers in the financial and insurance sector received the highest average monthly salary of 7.53 million won, though the amount marked a 0.6 percent decline from the previous year.

By company size, employees at large corporations earned an average of 5.93 million won per month, up 0.4 percent on-year, while those at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) saw their wages increase 4.3 percent to 2.98 million won.

khj@yna.co.kr
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