Remittance inflows to GDP in South Korea
South Korea: Remittance inflows to GDP was 0.5% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Remittance inflows to GDP in South Korea, 1976–2020
Source: World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, remittance inflows to gdp in South Korea stood at 0.5%.
The figure is up 4.6% on the previous year and down 11.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, remittance inflows to gdp in South Korea peaked at 1.5% in 1986 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1979.
South Korea ranks 146th of 197 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 45 years of available data.
Remittance inflows to GDP in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 0.2% | — |
| 1977 | 0.3% | +70.4% |
| 1978 | 0.2% | -24.6% |
| 1979 | 0.2% | -25.3% |
| 1980 | 0.9% | +470.2% |
| 1981 | 0.9% | +10.1% |
| 1982 | 1.0% | +5.7% |
| 1983 | 1.0% | +4.8% |
| 1984 | 1.0% | -7.6% |
| 1985 | 1.1% | +17.9% |
| 1986 | 1.5% | +30.0% |
| 1987 | 1.4% | -5.8% |
| 1988 | 1.3% | -10.3% |
| 1989 | 0.9% | -29.4% |
| 1990 | 0.9% | -3.9% |
| 1991 | 0.8% | -4.9% |
| 1992 | 0.8% | +1.7% |
| 1993 | 0.7% | -10.7% |
| 1994 | 0.7% | -9.4% |
| 1995 | 0.6% | -13.1% |
| 1996 | 0.5% | -5.0% |
| 1997 | 0.7% | +24.1% |
| 1998 | 1.3% | +89.5% |
| 1999 | 0.9% | -32.6% |
| 2000 | 0.8% | -9.8% |
| 2001 | 0.8% | +5.0% |
| 2002 | 0.8% | -0.7% |
| 2003 | 0.8% | +2.1% |
| 2004 | 0.7% | -10.5% |
| 2005 | 0.6% | -25.7% |
| 2006 | 0.5% | -17.2% |
| 2007 | 0.4% | -4.5% |
| 2008 | 0.7% | +51.6% |
| 2009 | 0.6% | -4.6% |
| 2010 | 0.5% | -19.5% |
| 2011 | 0.5% | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 0.5% | -2.2% |
| 2013 | 0.5% | -8.3% |
| 2014 | 0.4% | -6.2% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 0.4% | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | -7.6% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | +2.8% |
| 2019 | 0.4% | +5.0% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | +4.6% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.8%, 60% of the median. (67 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.5% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 2.3%, 20% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Remittance inflows to GDP in South Korea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | +470.2% | 0.2% | 0.9% |
| 1998 | +89.5% | 0.7% | 1.3% |
| 1977 | +70.4% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 4 |
| 1980s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.8% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More financial sector data for South Korea
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, annual growth rate 6.29 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0016 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per capita 58.67 units per person (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, annual growth rate 1.21 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.0012 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per capita 42.84 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, annual growth rate 6.29 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0016 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per capita 58.67 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, SDR, annual growth rate 1.21 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is remittance inflows to gdp in South Korea?
- Remittance inflows to gdp in South Korea was 0.5% in 2020, according to World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank.
- What is the highest remittance inflows to gdp recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 1.5% in 1986.
- What is the lowest remittance inflows to gdp recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1979.
- How does South Korea rank for remittance inflows to gdp?
- South Korea ranks 146th out of 197 countries with data for 2020.
- Is remittance inflows to gdp rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank, published as part of Remittance inflows to GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 45 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Workers' remittances and compensation of employees comprise current transfers by migrant workers and wages and salaries earned by nonresident workers. Data are the sum of three items defined in the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual: workers' remittances, compensation of employees, and migrants' transfers. Remittances are classified as current private transfers from migrant workers resident in the host country for more than a year, irrespective of their immigration status, to recipients in their country of origin. Migrants' transfers are defined as the net worth of migrants who are expected to remain in the host country for more than one year that is transferred from one country to another at the time of migration. Compensation of employees is the income of migrants who have lived in the host country for less than a year.