The country's per capita income in dollars decreased by nearly eight percent last year on the back of the won’s depreciation against the U.S. currency.

According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Tuesday, the country's gross national income(GNI) per capita came to 32-thousand-661 U.S. dollars in 2022, down seven-point-seven percent from a year earlier.

The BOK attributed the fall in the dollar value of GNI per capita to a rise in the won-dollar exchange rate in 2022, which soared an annual average of 12-point-nine percent.

The fall means that South Korea's GNI per capita came behind Taiwan's for the first time in 20 years, which was 33-thousand-565 dollars last year.

In terms of the local currency, however, the figure rose by four-point-three percent on-year to over 42-point-two million won.

The country's real gross domestic product expanded two-point-six percent in 2022 despite a contraction of zero-point-four percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Both figures matched the BOK's advance estimates provided in January.