South Korea’s average monthly household income rose 4.0% year-on-year to about $3,800 (5.42 million won) in the fourth quarter last year, while real income increased 1.6%, the Ministry of Data and Statistics said on Thursday. Wage income grew 3.9%, business income rose 3.0% and transfer income climbed 7.9%.

Average monthly household spending increased 4.4% to about $2,865 (4.08 million won), with consumption expenditure up 3.6%. Disposable income rose 3.4% to about $3,055 (4.35 million won), leaving a surplus of about $940 (1.34 million won). For all of last year, however, real consumption fell 0.4% despite a 1.7% rise in nominal