South Korea’s monthly household real income and spending stayed flat in the second quarter compared to last year amid a protracted economic slowdown, a government report showed Friday.

According to Statistics Korea, household disposable income showed a 1 percent increase year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, however its real income had no change during the same period.

Consumer spending remained unchanged over the same period, pushing down the proportion of disposable income to consumption to 70.9 percent. This is the lowest quarterly figure since the government began compiling related data in 2003.

“As the country is rapidly aging, the breadwinner in a family gets older,” said the statistics agency. “Those in their 50s and 60s have lower propensity to consume than people aged 30 or 40.”

By khnews@heraldcorp.com