South Korea Posts Increase in Real Wages

2025-07-30 02:41:12

(MENAFN) South Korea’s inflation-adjusted real wages increased for the third consecutive month in May, official data released Wednesday revealed.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor reported that the average nominal monthly wage per person in companies with at least one regular employee rose by 2.5 percent year-over-year, reaching 3,916,000 won (approximately 2,830 U.S. dollars) in May. This followed a 2.7 percent increase recorded in April.

On a real basis, monthly wages climbed 0.5 percent in May compared to the same month last year, continuing growth from 1.1 percent in March and 0.6 percent in April.

Consumer price inflation has remained close to the Bank of Korea’s 2 percent target in recent months, registering 2.2 percent in January, 2.0 percent in February, 2.1 percent in both March and April, and 1.9 percent in May.

Meanwhile, average monthly working hours per employee at these businesses dropped by 4.1 percent year-over-year, falling to 147.0 hours in May.

Among sectors, the water, sewage, and waste disposal industry logged the longest working hours at 162.5 hours, followed closely by manufacturing with 161.6 hours.

In contrast, the construction sector recorded the shortest monthly working hours, totaling 123.7 in May.

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