Household Wealth Rises to 274.75 Million Won Amid Housing Market Gains

Last year, the per capita household wealth, excluding debt, increased by 9.1% due to rising housing prices and financial asset growth. While the overall national wealth also rose by 2.2%, the increase in housing assets was concentrated in the metropolitan area, widening the asset gap between regions.

According to the '2025 National Balance Sheet (provisional)' released on July 22 by the Bank of Korea and the National Data Agency, the estimated per capita household wealth last year was 274.75 million won, up from 251.84 million won the previous year. Converted at last year's average market exchange rate of 1,422 won per dollar, this amounts to approximately $193,000.

As of 2024, the per capita household wealth by country is as follows: the United States ($514,000), Australia ($422,000), Canada ($297,000), Germany ($267,000), France ($235,000), the United Kingdom ($204,000), South Korea ($185,000), and Japan ($172,000). South Korea has maintained its lead over Japan for three consecutive years since first surpassing it in 2022.

Last year, the net worth of households and non-profit organizations reached 1,420 trillion won, a 9.0% (116.7 trillion won) increase from the previous year. Among this, non-financial assets, including housing, amounted to 1,034 trillion won, up 5.0% (49.4 trillion won), while net financial assets rose to 376.7 trillion won, an increase of 21.8% (67.4 trillion won).

Housing accounted for the largest share of household wealth at 50.4%, followed by non-housing non-financial assets (23.0%), cash and deposits (18.9%), insurance and pensions (13.3%), and equity securities and investment funds (11.5%). The overall share of real estate, including housing, decreased from 74.6% at the end of 2024 to 71.9% at the end of last year.

The total net worth of the national economy, known as national net worth, was 2,456.1 trillion won at the end of last year, an increase of 531 trillion won (2.2%) from the previous year. This growth rate slowed compared to the previous year's increase of 5.0%. While non-financial assets, particularly land, increased, the decline in external net financial assets impacted the overall growth.

Of the increase in national net worth, 319 trillion won was attributed to transactions, while 212 trillion won was due to non-transaction factors such as asset price fluctuations. The increase from transaction factors was slightly higher than the previous year due to expanded net acquisition of financial assets, but the increase from non-transaction factors was limited as the rise in domestic stock prices significantly increased the value of foreign liabilities when converted to won.

Real estate assets rose to 1,783.6 trillion won at the end of last year, a 4.1% (70.9 trillion won) increase from the previous year. Notably, the market capitalization of housing increased by 8.0% (57.1 trillion won) to 7,710 trillion won, surpassing the previous year's growth rate of 3.9%.

However, the asset increase was concentrated in the metropolitan area. The contribution to the increase in housing market capitalization was 7.4 percentage points from the metropolitan area, while non-metropolitan areas contributed only 0.6 percentage points, accounting for 92.8% of the total increase.

By region, the housing market capitalization in Seoul was 2,894 trillion won, making up 37.5% of the total, followed by Gyeonggi (2,192 trillion won), Busan (398 trillion won), and Incheon (341 trillion won). The share of the metropolitan area also expanded from 68.6% to 70.4%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points.

In contrast, the national economy's external net financial assets decreased by 20.4% (32.6 trillion won) to 1,271 trillion won compared to the previous year. Although financial assets increased, the rise in domestic stock prices significantly boosted the value of foreign holdings in domestic stocks, leading to a greater increase in financial liabilities than in financial assets.

Nam Min-ho, head of the Bank of Korea's Balance Sheet Team, stated, "The significant rise in the KOSPI last year compared to the U.S. S&P 500 and Euro Stoxx had a decisive impact on the decrease in external net financial assets. The increase in the value of foreign holdings in domestic stocks led to a greater rise in financial liabilities than in financial assets."

He added, "As housing prices have recently shown a rising trend again, the increase in housing market capitalization has also expanded. However, it appears that the government's real estate policies had little impact on the rate of increase in land prices and residential land prices."