S.Korea's land asset hits record high in 2019

Source: Xinhua | 2020-07-22

South Korea's land asset versus gross domestic product (GDP) hit record high last year as people rushed to buy land amid ample liquidity, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The ratio of land asset to the GDP was 4.6 as of the end of 2019, marking the highest since relevant data began to be compiled in 1995, according to Bank of Korea (BOK). It was up from 4.3 recorded a year earlier.

The increased land assets came amid the low borrowing cost that led individuals and companies to invest in land and buildings.

The BOK cut its benchmark interest rate further this year by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 0.50 percent in May after slashing the rate by 50 basis points in March.

The country's national wealth amounted to 16,622 trillion won (13.9 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of last year, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier.

The ratio of national wealth to the GDP was 8.7 as of end-2019, up from 8.2 tallied a year earlier.

Net financial asset accounted for 3.5 percent of the total, while the non-financial asset took up 96.5 percent.

The value of land and building assets increased 6.6 percent and 6.8 percent each last year.

The ratio of land and building assets to the non-financial asset accounted for 54.7 percent and 21.4 percent each.