The average annual working time per worker in Korea is the second highest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). On the other hand, annual average purchasing power wage was only in the middle of the OECD.
According to the latest OECD’s ‘Employment Trend, Korea’s average working time per domestic employee was 2,113 hours, which was 347 hours longer than the average of 34 countries in OECD member countries (1,766 hours). By dividing this by 8 hours of legal working hours a day, Korean workers work 43 days longer than the OECD average. Assuming an average of 22 days a month, it is two months longer than the OECD average.
The average annual real wage of Korean workers last year was $ 33,110 based on purchasing power parity (PPP), which was 80% of the OECD average ($ 41,553). The real wage per hour of Korean workers who had annual real wages divided by working hours was $ 15.67 in the previous year, two-thirds of the OECD average of $ 23.36.
In terms of countries, the average annual working time per employee in Japan, which is notorious for working long hours like in Korea, is 1,719 hours, 394 hours shorter than that of Korea. However, the actual annual wage is $ 35,780 and the real wage is 20.81 US $ 2,670 and $ 5.14, respectively. Korean workers are working 49 days and 2.2 months more than Japan, but annual real wages are 92.5% of Japan’s and 3/4 for hourly real wages.
The gap between Germany, which has the lowest annual average working hours in OECD countries, has widened further. The average annual working time of German workers was 1337 hours, the average annual real wage was $ 44,925, and the real wage per hour was 32.77 dollars. Korean workers worked 4.2 months more than German workers, and the average annual real wage was 73% of Germany’s and half of the real wage per hour.
The average annual working time for US workers was 1,790 hours, the average annual real wage was $ 58,714, and the actual hourly wage was $ 32.80. Korean workers are 1.8 months more than the US, with an average annual real wage of 56.4% and an hourly real wage of 47.7%.
Among the OECD countries, the highest annual real wages are in Luxembourg ($ 60,389), the United States ($ 58,714), Switzerland ($ 58,389), Norway ($ 50,908) ($ 670), Australia ($ 516,700) and Denmark ($ 54,024).
On the other hand, among the OECD member countries, Mexico has the longest working time of 2,246 hours, was the lowest with an annual real wage of $ 14,867, followed by Hungary ($ 19,999), Estonia ($ 21,564), Czech Republic ($ 21,689) and Slovakia ($ 22,311).
The number of working hours was in the order of Greece (2,42 hours), Chile (1,988 hours) and Poland (1,963 hours) followed by Mexico and Korea, followed by Holland (1,149 hours), Norway 424 hours), Denmark (1,457 hours), France (1,482 hours) and Luxembourg (1,550 hours).
The countries with the highest real wages per hour are Luxembourg ($ 40.06), Switzerland ($ 36.73), Norway ($ 35.75), Netherlands ($ 35.71), Denmark ($ 34.33), the United States ($ 32.80) and Germany, followed by Mexico ($ 6.62), Hungary ($ 11.44), Estonia ($ 11.64) and Chile ($ 11.70).
– Jihye Jeong (UB Intern)
