Falling savings rate

Savings rate is on the decline amid bullish stock market and an increasing trend to favor investment and consumption rather than saving. Net savings rate relative to income reached a record high with 23.9 per cent in 1988 but slid to 3.5 per cent last year.

Lee Sung-tae, governor of BOK, voiced concern over the matter, “consumption beyond one’s income will cause big burden on the country as a whole.”