South Korea's minimum wage set to surpass Tokyo's (2024)

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South Korea's minimum wage set to surpass Tokyo's? ›

SEOUL -- South Korea will raise its nationwide minimum wage for 2024 by 2.5% to 9,860 won ($7.80) per hour, enough to surpass Tokyo's minimum wage under current exchange rates. A 9,860 won minimum wage converts to 1,086 yen ($7.83), exceeding Tokyo's current minimum wage of 1,072 yen ($7.68) per hour.

As of 2022, the average salary of full-time workers at large South Korean companies stood at 5,884,000 won per month, or 1.2 times that of Japan. Wages at small and medium-sized Korean enterprises were 3,399,000 won a month, 1.04 times more than Japanese counterparts.

Tokyo workers earn the highest minimum wage in Japan – about 1,113 Yen (7.16 USD) per hour – comparable to other high-income international cities like Hong Kong and Seoul. The difference between Tokyo and other Japanese regions is that it has more business operations and better infrastructure.

Minimum wage

The South Korean government passed the Minimum Wage Act in 1986 to standardize and protect the minimum wage of its labor force. According to the Wage Indicator, the minimum wage in South Korea is 9,860 KRW per hour (USD 7.33) for 2024. So is the average wage the same as the average salary?

The minimum wage has been revised in South Korea from 01 January 2024. The minimum wage has been increased from ₩9,620.00 to ₩9,860.00 per hour.

According to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday, the top 1 percent of income earners numbered 199,591 in 2021, and they earned at least 320 million won ($236,581) on average that year. The wage earners' data was submitted by the National Tax Service to the lawmaker.

Japan is the world's third-largest economy, with a GDP per capita of $39,286. South Korea, the world's 11th largest economy, has slowly caught up with its neighbor over the past two decades, reaching a GDP per capita of $31,362.

Cost Of Living In South Korea Vs. The USA. The average cost of living in South Korea is much lower than the average cost of living in the United States. The biggest savings are found in the price of monthly rent for apartment units in both the suburbs and downtown locations.

Most people in Korea that do, are children and spouses. The very low minimum wage allows for easier entry into the work force, doesn't inflate the cost of living and motivates people to not work low end jobs. Mainly it allows small businesses to compete with larger businesses by not killing them with labor costs.

1 USD = 1,380.04 KRW Jun 08, 2024 05:22 UTC

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What is the average rent in Korea? ›

As of November 2023, the mean purchase price of housing in Seoul, South Korea amounted to around 819 million South Korean won. The average price of apartments amounted to around 1.05 billion South Korean won while the price of row houses was about 341 million South Korean won.

In South Korea, the national average salary reflects the country's wage policy and is typically measured in South Korean Won (KRW). The average wage in the country range from 983,000 KRW (745 USD), which is the lowest average, to 17,400,000 KRW (13,181 USD), the highest average.

The cost of living in Japan is generally higher than in South Korea. The cost of living in Tokyo, Japan's capital and largest city, is particularly high compared to other cities in Japan and South Korea.

The average monthly salary in Japan has been steadily increasing over the years, reflecting the country's economic stability and growth. As of the latest available data, the average salary in Japan is approximately 4.14 million yen per year. This amount translates to around 345,000 yen per month, before taxes.

So, Japanese has significantly more speakers than Korean and is more widely helpful. The increase in Korean learners has made the difference in speaker numbers less important when deciding between the two languages. Both languages hold unique cultural significance and importance.