Average monthly income of wage earners up 4.1 pct in 2019

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- The average monthly income of South Korean wage earners rose 4.1 percent in 2019 from a year earlier amid a hike in the minimum wage, data showed Wednesday.

Salaried workers earned 3.09 million won (US$2,800) per month on average in 2019, compared with 2.97 million won in 2018, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

Median income of wage earners amounted to 2.34 million won in 2019, up 6.3 percent from the previous year. Median income is a measure of a mid-point income that divides wage workers into two equal groups.

The statistics agency said income gaps between haves and have-nots improved on the back of a hike in the minimum wage.

The country set the minimum wage for 2019 at 8,350 won, up 10.9 percent from a year earlier.

The data showed the average monthly income of male wage earners stood at 3.6 million won in 2019, higher than that of female workers with 2.36 million won.

Employees of large companies earned 5.15 million won per month on average in 2019, compared with 2.45 million won for those working in small and medium enterprises.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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