Korea ranks near bottom of OECD for income redistribution

Korea placed near the bottom among OECD countries in income redistribution via taxes and welfare programs, according to data released on Sunday. The nation's improvement rate in the Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, stood at 17.6 percent in 2023, the most recent year for which OECD figures are available, according to Yonhap News Agency.

This figure was roughly half the OECD average of 34.4 percent, placing Korea 28th out of the 29 OECD member countries with data. Only Costa Rica had a lower figure, at 12.1 percent. The Korean economy has been experiencing growth due to robust semiconductor exports, yet worries persist about economic polarization becoming deeply entrenched.

The Gini coefficient, ranging from zero (perfect equality) to one (perfect inequality), gauges Korea's market-income Gini coefficient in 2023 at 0.392, the lowest among the 29 OECD countries examined.