Recent data has found that South Korea’s underground economy makes up less than 20% of the nation’s gross domestic product.
According to a recent report released by the International Monetary Fund on the shadow or underground economy of 158 countries over 1991 to 2015, South Korea’s underground economy accounted for 19.83% of the nation’s GDP. That’s down nearly ten percentage points from 1991 when it hovered at around 30%, Yonhap reported.
Shadow economy was defined as “all economic activities which are hidden from official authorities for monetary, regulatory and institutional reasons,” including avoiding paying taxes and governmental bureaucracy or the burden of regulation.
The report found that the underground economy of 158 countries made up 27.78% of their GDP on average as of 2015, down from 34.51% in 1991.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s per capita national debt has surpassed 13 million won ($11,960). ?The National Assembly Budget Office said on Sunday that as of Saturday, the national debt stood at 671.5 trillion won, up 4.6 trillion won from late last year. The national debt increased 2.2 times from 2008, when it marked 309 trillion won.
?The nation’s per capita national debt also increased 2.1 times over the period to exceed 13 million won. ?
?The budget office estimated the national debt will increase to 708.2 trillion won by the end of this year, based on the size of the country’s budget for 2018. ??It said that the national debt is growing by 1.31 million won every second.
According to data by the ministry of employment and labor on Sunday, 152,000 people newly applied for unemployment benefits last month, up 37,000 or 32.2% from a year earlier. It’s the largest figure and growth since the nation started compiling related data in 2013.
