The average wage gap between large and small enterprises in Korea has doubled to 2.0 times, reversing the trend of narrowing that had been observed over the previous two years.
According to the recent report by the National Data Agency, the average salary of employees in large enterprises has risen to 6.13 million won, while that of employees in small enterprises is only 3.07 million won, resulting in a doubling of the wage gap. After two consecutive years of decreases in the wage gap from 2021 to 2023, a slight increase was noted this year. This marks a notable shift from the previous trend, as the gap had reduced from 2.23 times in 2016 to 1.99 times by 2023. The increase this year comes as a surprise against the broader context of declining wage disparities in past years, particularly among specific age groups like those in their 20s and 50s, where the wage gap has narrowed significantly since 2016.
