Last year, the household surplus, which suffered from the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), reached a record high. Household income increased with the government’s disaster subsidies, but economic actors rapidly reduced spending in crisis situations, resulting in a’recession-type surplus’.
According to the results of a household trend survey by the National Statistical Office on the 22nd, the surplus rate of households with two or more people nationwide last year was 32.9% in the first quarter, 32.3% in the second quarter, 30.9% in the third quarter, and 30.4 in the fourth quarter, all exceeding 30%.
The surplus rate refers to the percentage of money left by households excluding consumption and expenditure. Disposable income is the amount of income excluding non-consumption expenditures such as taxes, pensions, and social insurance premiums, and it becomes a surplus when daily, food, clothing, and shelter expenses are excluded.
Excluding last year, there was only one case in the fourth quarter of 2016 that recorded a quarterly surplus of more than 30% in the household trend survey prepared from 2003. Considering that household trends are compared with the same period last year, the household surplus rate recorded a record high every quarter last year.
The increase in household surplus last year is interpreted as a result of not spending money or not spending money.
Professor Yoo Gyeong-won of Sangmyung University explained in the report’Comparison of consumption expenditure patterns during the past economic crisis and the spread of Corona 19′, “When a crisis occurs, households tend to see a greater decrease in consumption than a decrease in income.”
The greater the fear of falling income, the greater the extent of the decline in consumption expenditure. In addition to the decrease in spending due to the decline in current income, spending is reduced even more by increasing savings in a preliminary way to prepare for the instability of future income.
This trend was remarkable in the first quarter of last year, when the surplus rate reached the highest level. In the first quarter, the average monthly income per household increased by 3.7% to 5358,000 won, but household expenditure decreased by 4.9% to 3945,000 won.
The average household income increased by 4.8% in the second quarter, 1.6% in the third quarter, and 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Household spending decreased by 2.2% in the third quarter and 0.1% in the fourth quarter, except for an increase of 1.4% in the second quarter.
In addition, the corona 19 incident was reflected in the surplus rate as household income increased, unlike the past economic crisis, as the government universally and selectively paid disaster subsidies.
In light of past experiences, the surplus stockpiled during a crisis often leads to explosive consumption after escaping from the crisis. It is so-called retaliation consumption.
Professor Gyeong-won Yoo said, “The increased liquidity in the process of responding to Corona 19 and the way consumption and savings, which collapsed amid the overheating of the asset market, will change the economic movement.” There is a risk of losing,” he analyzed.