Korean Financial and Insurance Employees Paid More than Japanese and EU Counterparts

The Korea Enterprises Federation announced on Feb. 6 that the average monthly wage of South Korean employees in the financial and insurance sector was US$7,373 as of the end of 2020, 6.7 percent higher than their EU counterparts’ and 53.4 percent higher than their Japanese counterparts’.

“According to our purchasing power parity-based data, the financial and insurance sector, the professional, scientific and technical services sector, and the information and communication sector were those with the highest wages in South Korea, Japan and the European Union alike,” the federation said, adding, “In South Korea, the average monthly wages of those in the second and third sectors were US$6,026 and US$5,483, respectively.”

The sector with the lowest wage was lodging and restaurant in each of the three regions. Specifically, the wages were US$2,703, US$2,858 and US$2,765 in the case of South Korea, the European Union and Japan, respectively.

The wage gap between the top and bottom sectors amounted to 63.3 percent in South Korea, whereas it was 58.6 percent in the European Union and 44.5 percent in Japan. When it comes to the monthly average of all employees’ wages, the figure of South Korea was US$4,478.7 and those of the European Union and Japan were US$4,534.5 and US$3,785.8, respectively.

“As of the end of 2020, the financial and insurance sector of South Korea was the one with the highest wage among all industries of South Korea, Japan and the European Union,” the federation said, adding, “This has to do with automatic wage increase proportional to the duration of employment and the very strong influence of unionized employees in the industry.”