S. Korean consumer expenditure hits record low in 2014
Xinhua, February 13, 2015 Adjust font size:
South Korean consumers spent the least with what they earned in 2014 as rapid population aging encouraged people to save rather than spend, a government report showed Friday.
The propensity to consume, or the ratio of consumption expenditure to disposable income, averaged 72.9 percent in 2014, down 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
It was the lowest since the statistical agency began compiling the data in 2003. After peaking at 77.3 percent in 2010, the consumption tendency kept sliding from 76.7 percent in 2011 to 73. 4 percent in 2013 before falling to the record low of 72.9 percent in 2014.
The continued fall came as the elderly refrained from consumption to prepare for their old age and the young saved up for their retirement.
Average monthly expenditure among households rose 2.9 percent last year, slower than a 3.4 percent increase in household income.
Household expenditure growth continued to decline from 6.7 percent in 2010 to 1.4 percent in 2013.
Adjusted for consumer price inflation, the real consumption expenditure reduced 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Endi