Gap between GDPs per Capita of Korea and Japan is Narrowing

The Hyundai Research Institute announced on March 1 that Korea’s GDP per capita is estimated to have totaled US$27,226 last year, when that of Japan was US$32,432.

 According to the economic research institute, Korea’s GDP per capita decreased 2.6% from a year ago. It had dropped by 11.4% in 2008 and 10.4% in the following year and decreased again last year.

 Meanwhile, Japan’s GDP per capita was as high as US$46,683 in 2012, when that of Korea was US$24,454. However, the former dropped 17.2% to US$38,633 in 2013 and 6.2% to US$36,222 in 2014. Last year, it showed a decrease of 10.5%. This was because of the weak yen that has continued since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in 2012. The average yen-dollar exchange rate changed from 79.79 yen to 97.6 yen, 105.84 yen and then to 121.02 yen per U.S. dollar between 2012 and last year.

 Korea’s GDP per capita had been merely US$1,870 in 1981, less than one-fifth of Japan’s US$10,217. However, the former rose to one-fourth and one-third of the latter in 1993 and 1996, respectively. The former dropped back to one-fourth of the latter during the IMF bailout, and then increased to 40% of the latter in 2002 and 52% in 2005.

 Korea’s GDP per capita is expected to exceed US$30,000 next year. According to the IMF, it is estimated to reach US$32,178 in 2018, US$34,268 in 2019 and US$36,750 in 2020. In the meantime, that of Japan is likely to reach US$34,486 next year, US$35,450 in 2018, US$36,759 in 2019 and US$38,174 in 2020. Korea’s GDP per capita is expected to be equal to 96% of Japan’s in 2020.

 The IMF added that the GDP per capita of the United States is estimated to increase from US$55,759 to US$67,064 between this year and 2020 and that of China is expected to go up from US$7,847 to at least US$10,000 between this year and 2018 before reaching US$12,117 in 2020. India’s GDP per capita is likely to rise from US$1,688 to US$2,000 between this year and 2018 and to US$2,500 in 2020.