A recent survey showed that South Korean people’s incomes are currently peaking around age 45 and that their expenditures are surpassing their inflows by the time they hit 61.

Statistics Korea on Thursday released the 2023 National Transfer Accounts survey, which breaks down the relationship between consumption and income by age to provide information on the flow of economic resources between generations.

According to the survey, spending was much higher than income among people younger than 27 while 16-year-olds displayed the largest deficit of around 44-point-two million won, or roughly 31-thousand-500 U.S. dollars, mostly due to educational costs.

Income began exceeding consumption around age 28.

By age 45, income peaked at 44-point-three million won, giving the age group the largest surplus of around 17-point-five million won.

Subsequent age brackets continued to report a surplus until 61, which kicked off a downward trend into the red.
 
The population’s total life cycle deficit, referring to the difference between total lifetime consumption and labor income, totaled 226-point-four trillion won in 2023, exceeding 200 trillion won for the first time and marking an increase of nearly 16 percent from the previous year.

The figure indicates that growth in consumption outpaced growth in labor during the cited period.