Japan vs South Korea: Threshold income per month marking the poorest decile, the median, and the richest decile (after tax)

Japan
1,032 international-$ in 2021 prices
in 2020
South Korea
1,153 international-$ in 2021 prices
in 2021
Japan rank
21st
South Korea rank
18th

Threshold income per month marking the poorest decile, the median, and the richest decile (after tax) over time

  • Japan
  • South Korea
02505007501.0k1.2k200620132021

How they compare

South Korea currently reports 1,153 international-$ in 2021 prices against 1,032 international-$ in 2021 prices in Japan, a difference of 121.74 international-$ in 2021 prices.

That makes South Korea's figure about 1.1 times Japan's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 9 shared years of data; in 2008 it was Japan ahead.

Japan ranks 21st and South Korea ranks 18th of 47 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Threshold income per month marking the poorest decile, the median, and the richest decile (after tax)
Unit
international-$ in 2021 prices
Source
Luxembourg Income Study (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
47 places, 1,030 data points, 1963–2024
Last refreshed

The level of income per month below which 10% of the population falls.