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Earning more than they spend from 28, back in deficit at 61
On average, South Koreans start earning more from work than they spend at age 28 and stay in that surplus until 60. From 61, spending overtakes labor income again. The “2024 National Transfer Accounts,” released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on September 17, 2026, put the surplus window at 33 years. Both ages, the entry into surplus and the return to deficit, were unchanged from the previous year.
The National Transfer Accounts compare consumption and labor income by age to show how economic resources move between generations. The data does not judge any individual’s bank balance or savings. It maps the economic rhythm of society as a whole by setting earned income against age-specific spending, including education and health care.
In this framework, spending more than you earn from work is a “life-cycle deficit,” and earning more is a surplus. The picture it draws is simple: young people consume resources supported by families and public systems, working-age adults produce a surplus that supports dependents, and older people see labor income fall and rely again on transfers and accumulated assets.
Income and surplus peak at 45
In 2024 the per-person balance followed three stages: deficit, surplus, then deficit. The deficit years ran through age 27, the surplus years from 28 to 60, and the deficit returned from 61. The largest per-person deficit came at age 16, at 46.04 million won, because spending, driven by education costs, is highest at that age.
At the other end, the per-person surplus peaked at 45, at 19.32 million won. Labor income also peaked at 45, at 46.51 million won. Wage income topped out at the same age at 45.03 million won, while income from self-employment peaked later, at 53, at 1.87 million won. The gap reflects the different timing of salaried and self-employed careers.
Wages made up 96.6% of all labor income. Wage income rose 4.7% from the previous year and self-employment labor income rose 2.6%. In other words, the surplus years are built mostly on salaried work, with the widest gap between income and spending opening in the mid-40s before earnings taper off and the margin narrows.
Working longer pushes the deficit further out
The surplus window has grown. In 2010 Koreans entered surplus at 27 and returned to deficit at 56, a 29-year window. By 2024 the entry age had moved to 28, but the return to deficit had moved to 61, stretching the window to 33 years. Over 14 years, the age at which people slip back into deficit shifted five years later.
The change tracks the rising share of older people in the workforce. In 2010, spending overtook labor income at 56; now more people in their late 50s and around 60 are still earning, and the tipping point has moved to 61. Working longer does not mean every older person is comfortable, though.
The 55-to-64 age group shows the shift most clearly. In 2014 the group ran a deficit of 12.8 trillion won; in 2024 it posted a surplus of 20 trillion won, and it has stayed in surplus since 2020. Over that decade the group’s consumption rose 106.2%, from 115.9 trillion to 239 trillion won, while its labor income rose 151.1%, from 103.1 trillion to 258.9 trillion won. Income simply grew faster than spending.
Longer working lives, and a growing deficit for the oldest
Even as people work later, the cost of an aging population keeps rising. The deficit for those aged 65 to 74 grew 98.0% over the decade, from 44.6 trillion won in 2014 to 88.3 trillion won in 2024. For people 75 and older it grew 159.9%, from 38.7 trillion to 100.7 trillion won. As labor income drops off in old age, living and health costs depend far more on asset income and public support.
Consumption by people 65 and older rose 8.1% in 2024 to 263.7 trillion won, well ahead of the 1.0% growth for children and 2.7% for the working-age population. Public health spending for that age group rose 8.0% to 57.1 trillion won, and private health and other spending rose 7.5% to 161.4 trillion won. The total deficit for older people reached 188.9 trillion won, larger than the 186.2 trillion won for children, while the working-age population ran a surplus of 155 trillion won.
Transfers between generations fill those gaps. Of the 344.9 trillion won that flowed out of the working-age population, 185.9 trillion went to children and 148.3 trillion to older people. Through asset reallocation, the working-age population took in a net 189.8 trillion won, older people 40.7 trillion won and children 300 billion won. Taxes, family support and asset income together cover the deficits at both ends of life.
Across the whole economy in 2024, consumption came to 1,509.8 trillion won and labor income to 1,289.7 trillion won. The overall life-cycle deficit was 220.1 trillion won, down 7.3 trillion won, or 3.2%, from the year before, because labor income grew 4.6% while consumption grew 3.4%. The fast growth in health spending and in the deficit of people 75 and older shows the other side of a society where working lives are getting longer.
Source: Ministry of Data and Statistics, “2024 National Transfer Accounts,” September 17, 2026.
