Number of millionaires South Korea 2010-2023
In 2023, an estimated 456 thousand people in South Korea owned financial assets worth one billion South Korean won or more. This was a year-on-year increase of around 7.5 percent. The rise in stock prices was, among other things, the key reason for the jump in the wealth of these millionaires.
High-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) in South Korea
High-net-worth individuals (HNWI) refer to persons with a net worth of over one million U.S. dollars including their primary residence. The number of HNWIs in South Korea has risen steadily in recent years. While there were about 481 thousand HNWIs in 2016, the number exceeded 830 million in 2021 and is expected to double the 2015 figure by 2026. South Korea was also among the top 15 countries with the most ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) - those whose net assets, including their homes, exceed 50 million U.S. dollars.
Who are the wealthiest people in South Korea?
In recent years, South Korea has seen an increase in the number of billionaires as well, with the capital Seoul being one of the leading cities in the world with the most resident billionaires. With a net worth of around 7.9 billion U.S dollars, Lee Jae-yong (Jay Y. Lee), vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and son of the late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, was the richest person in South Korea as of August 2023. Seo Jung-jin, the founder of South Korea's biopharmaceutical company Celltrion, has reportedly reached a fortune of around 5.6 billion dollars, leading the wealth ranking along with Samsung vice chairman Lee.
