Per capita GDP estimated to reach $39,000 this year in sharpest growth in 5 years
Analysts say robust memory chip exports could lift Korea’s per capita GDP 7.6 percent in 2026, with a stronger won potentially pushing it above $40,000.
Containers are stacked at Pyeongtaek Port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 28, 2025.
YONHAP
Korea's GDP per capita is expected to increase 7.6 percent from a year earlier in 2026 to around $39,000, marking the biggest on-year gain in five years amid robust exports led by memory chips, local analysts said Sunday.
The country's GDP per capita is projected to reach $39,164 this year, up $2,750 from the previous year, according to projections based on data provided by financial authorities.
The projected increase would mark the strongest annual growth since the 11.5 percent on-year increase posted in 2021.
The estimate was calculated by applying the government's revised nominal GDP growth forecast of 12.3 percent for this year to the nominal GDP of 2.67 quadrillion won ($1.8 billion) in 2025, resulting in an estimate of 3 quadrillion won for 2026.
The figure was then divided by the country's population of 51.6 million.
The GDP per capita estimate was based on the average dollar-won exchange rate of 1,487.19 won against the dollar for this year.
Pundits, however, said if the Korean won strengthens against the dollar, bringing the average exchange rate to 1,456.1 won against the dollar this year, Korea's GDP per capita could exceed $40,000 for the first time.
Korea's GDP per capita stood at $35,359 in 2018 but fell to $33,652 in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. After some ups and downs in the following years, it reached $36,327 in 2024 and $36,414 in 2025.
Last week, the government announced a set of economic policy goals, including achieving a potential growth rate of 3 percent, becoming one of the world's top four exporters and raising gross national income (GNI) per capita, a gauge of the population's purchasing power, to $50,000.
The GNI per capita came to $36,850 in 2025.
"The goals for exports and per capita GNI are highly achievable by 2030, within President Lee Jae Myung's term, provided that the current trend continues and policy efforts are strengthened," Kang Gi-lyong, a senior official at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, said during a recent press briefing.
Yonhap
