[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

Net household assets per person rose 9.1% to 274.75 million won ($186,000) at the end of last year, driven by a stock market rally that pushed financial assets held by households and nonprofit organizations to their fastest growth rate in 14 years.

According to the "2025 National Balance Sheet (Preliminary)" released Wednesday by the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Statistics, per-capita household net worth stood at 274.75 million won at end-2025, up from 251.84 million won at end-2024. The growth rate of 9.1% was more than three times the 3% recorded the previous year.

Total net assets held by households and nonprofit organizations rose 1,167 trillion won, or 9%, from 13,000 trillion won at end-2024. That was the largest annual increase since 2021, when net assets grew 14.5%. Household and nonprofit net assets had declined for the first time since the statistics were compiled in 2022, falling 1.3% that year, before returning to growth in 2023. The pace of expansion has been accelerating — 1.8% in 2023 and 3.1% in 2024.

By asset type, net financial assets rose 674 trillion won, or 21.8%, to 3,767 trillion won — the fastest growth rate since a 26.5% increase in 2009. Non-financial assets also expanded, rising 494 trillion won, or 5%, to 10,434 trillion won. Equity securities and investment funds gained 525 trillion won, boosted by rising share prices, reversing a 14 trillion won decline in 2024. Housing assets rose 534 trillion won from the end of the prior year, while cash and deposits increased 152 trillion won.

Breaking down the composition of household and nonprofit net assets at end-2025, housing accounted for 50.4%, followed by non-housing non-financial assets at 23%, cash and deposits at 18.9%, insurance and pension and other items at 13.3%, and equity securities and investment funds at 11.5%.

Because financial assets such as stocks grew at a faster pace than non-financial assets, real estate's share of household net worth fell from 74.6% at end-2024 to 71.9% at end-2025.

Nam Min-ho, head of the National Balance Sheet team at the Bank of Korea's Economic Statistics II Bureau, said equity securities and investment funds held by households had declined in 2024 but recovered last year as both the Kospi and overseas stock markets sustained strong gains. "Rising housing prices also remained elevated and contributed to asset growth," he added.

Converted at market exchange rates, per-capita household net worth was $193,000. Compared with major advanced economies as of end-2024, that figure was below the United States ($514,000), Australia ($422,000) and Canada ($297,000), but slightly above Japan ($172,000).

Net household assets per household stood at 634.27 million won, up 7.9% from 587.61 million won the previous year. At market exchange rates, that translated to $446,000 per household — again below the United States and Australia, but slightly above Japan ($392,000).

National net assets — which combine households and nonprofits with financial and non-financial corporations and general government — totaled 24,561 trillion won at end-2025, up 531 trillion won, or 2.2%, from a year earlier. That growth rate was roughly half the 5% increase, or 1,142 trillion won, recorded the previous year.

Non-financial assets rose 3.8% to 23,291 trillion won, supported by higher housing prices, but net financial assets fell 326 trillion won, or 20.4%, to 1,271 trillion won from end-2024, tempering the overall gain. Net financial assets represent external financial assets minus external financial liabilities. The decline was the first since 2020, when they fell 11.6%.

The Bank of Korea attributed the drop to a sharp rise in domestic stocks held by non-residents — classified as external financial liabilities — as the local equity market surged last year.

Breaking down the drivers of the increase in national net assets, transaction factors such as asset acquisition contributed 319 trillion won, while non-transaction factors such as asset price movements added 212 trillion won. Net acquisition of financial assets rose 160 trillion won, led by equity securities and investment funds, which gained 172 trillion won, as Korean residents increased their overseas equity holdings.

On the non-transaction side, nominal holding gains on non-financial assets rose 610 trillion won, reflecting higher real estate prices. However, the won-denominated value of external financial liabilities — including domestic stocks held by foreigners — rose sharply, causing financial assets to fall 486 trillion won, led by a 505 trillion won decline in equity securities and investment funds.

Choi Pil-geun, head of the income statistics division at the Ministry of Statistics, said a base effect from 2024 — when net financial assets surged 53.8% on the back of a booming US stock market — also weighed on last year's figures. Nam said that through the end of June, domestic share prices had outpaced overseas markets, and if that trend continued through year-end, net financial assets could decline again this year.

Meanwhile, total real estate assets in national net worth stood at 17,836 trillion won at end-2025, up 709 trillion won, or 4.1%, from the prior year. Real estate's share of non-financial assets edged up 0.3 percentage point to 76.6% from 76.3%.

Rising housing prices last year pushed the total market capitalization of housing to 7,710 trillion won, up 571 trillion won, or 8.0%, from end-2024 — the largest increase since 2021, when it rose 18.3%. Housing market capitalization had fallen for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023, declining 4.0% and 1.3% respectively, before returning to growth in 2024 with a 3.9% gain, and the pace of expansion widened further last year. Of last year's increase in housing market capitalization, the Greater Seoul metropolitan area accounted for 7.4 percentage points, or 92.8% of the total gain.


kimstar@heraldcorp.com