South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor released a report last Thursday showing that South Koreans’ inflation-adjusted real wages have fallen by 5.5% since last year. Real wages fell for 10 consecutive months since April 2022 due to inflation.

The report also showed that full-time workers worked an average of 2.9 hours less compared to a year ago, resulting in falling wages. An official from the Ministry of Labor explained, “The nominal wage itself fell by 0.6%, and the inflation rate decreased by 5.2%, leading to a decrease in real wages.”