Historical Statistics of Korea

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Environment and Geography

Abstract

This chapter presents the climatic and geographical information for the Korean peninsula, which comprises today’s North and South Korea and lies in the temperate zone—between 33° and 43°N and between 124° and 132°E to be precise. The climatic data include precipitation, temperature, humidity, and wind speed from 1904–2015. Meteorological data are presented for five major cities on a monthly basis together with annual sums or averages and national totals. Noteworthy are the rainfall data for the capital city, Seoul, collected by the pre-colonial bureaucracy from 1777 to 1907 using ch’ŭgugi, an oil drum-shaped iron gauge. According to the temperature time series, Korea’s average temperature rose by roughly 2 ℃ over the past century.

Myung Soo Cha, Junseok Hwang, Heejin Park

Chapter 2. Population

Abstract

Over the past century, Korea underwent a demographic transition triggered by the mortality transition in the late nineteenth century and finalized by the rapid fertility decline in the two decades following the mid-1960s. This chapter presents information describing the shift from a regime of high mortality and fertility to one with a low incidence of births and deaths. There are six sections, dealing with (1) population size, (2) household totals, (3) mortality, (4) fertility, (5) marriage, and (6) internal and international migration.

Myung Soo Cha, Heejin Park

Chapter 3. Labor Force and Employment

Abstract

The labor statistics presented in this chapter are divided into five groups: labor force, employment, unemployment, unionization, and industrial safety. The labor force and employment data include breakdowns in terms of age, sector, and educational attainment, among others.

Yitaek Park

Chapter 4. Wages

Abstract

Long-run Trends

Myung Soo Cha, Junseok Hwang, Wooyoun Lee

Chapter 5. Education

Abstract

Korea’s economic growth in the past century was associated with rapid improvements in educational attainment.

Sun Go, Ki-Joo Park

Chapter 6. Health

Abstract

As life expectancy more than doubled from the early 1930s to the early 1980s, Koreans have benefited from rapidly improving health as a consequence of public intervention, medical modernization, and economic growth. Much of the mortality decline took place after the Korean War (1950–53), due largely to foreign aid, public intervention, and improved water supply. This chapter provides information on the causes driving this epidemiological and health transition, dividing relevant statistics into several groups. First, statistics on causes of deaths are presented; this is followed by data on the incidence of major diseases, particularly infectious diseases, including the influenza pandemic of 1919. The third group of statistics show the expansion of medical facilities, such as the number of hospitals, sick beds, and medical professionals. The development of national health insurance since 1980 is the fourth topic, which deals with the number of individuals covered by the scheme, insurance premium and benefits, and coverage rates. As measures of the use of medical service, this chapter presents the number of in- and out-patients for different types of medical institutions and household expenditures on medical care broken down in terms of function, finance, and service supplier. Finally, a variety of health indicators are provided, such as height, weight, and smoking rate, which presents a mixed picture.

Sok Chul Hong

Chapter 7. Agriculture

Abstract

Korean agriculture achieved remarkable growth over the past century, as is indicated by the near quadrupling of rice yields from 1.4 to 5.4 tons per ha during 1918–2015. This chapter documents the growth of input, output, and productivity occurring in different components of the agriculture of colonial and South Korea. The input data include time series of arable acreage, labor, seeds, fertilizer, and agricultural machinery for colonial and South Korea. During 1910–18, when the Cadastral Survey was under way, rice output growth as indicated by the data published by the colonial government probably partly reflects the improved statistical coverage, and thus overstates the actual expansion. Moreover, the colonial authorities revised the method by which rice output was estimated in 1936, causing the official aggregate to jump by 25.8%. This chapter reproduces the official rice output series side by side with the series adjusted by Sub Park (G59). The pre-1945 and post-1955 agricultural output series presented in this chapter cannot be spliced because the South Korean statistics are based on the improved sampling procedure adopted in 1965.

Seok Gon Cho

Chapter 8. Natural Resources

Abstract

In this chapter, natural resources comprise fishery, forest, and underground resources. After growing rapidly under Japanese rule, South Korea’s mining industry suffered a substantial contraction because the bulk of the accessible underground resources were in the northern part of the Korean peninsula.

Sang Yun Ryu, Wooyoun Lee, Kyoung Eun Song

Chapter 9. Construction and Housing

Abstract

This chapter presents statistical information on construction industry in four categories: building permits and stocks, construction companies, residential building, and housing finance.

Yitaek Park

Chapter 10. Manufacturing

Abstract

The economic growth occurring in colonial and South Korea had been associated with industrialization until the mid-1980s, when the output share of manufacturing entered a phase of slow decline.

Ki-Joo Park

Chapter 11. Distribution

Abstract

The statistical information in this chapter is classified into four groups: (1) gross and value-added output estimates for the distribution sector; (2) the level of activity as indicated by the number of establishments and workers and by the size of turnover and stocks; (3) trade margins; and (4) the prevalence of different types of markets.

Young-Jun Cho

Chapter 12. Transportation and Communications

Abstract

As the Korean economy grew rapidly in the past century, market integration took place, driven by improvements in transportation, postal services, and telecommunications, including the Internet. The capital inflows set off by the port opening in 1876 financed the construction of the first ever railway line linking Seoul, the capital city, and Inchon, a port city 27 km to the west, as well as the introduction of postal services and the telegraph.

Chaisung Lim

Chapter 13. Service Industry and Public Utilities

Abstract

Consistent with the Kuznets facts, the GDP share of public utilities and services grew consistently in Korea during the past century, which was matched by the exodus of productive factors out of agriculture and by the stagnation in the output share of manufacturing since the late 1980s, following more than seven decades of industrialization. Despite the consistent rise in importance, the data availability for service sector remains limited to South Korea, primarily because only in 1968 did the government start to collect information on service production. Moreover, the public survey referred only to domestic commerce until 1981, when it was expanded to cover all branches of the sector.

Sang-Cheol Lee

Chapter 14. National Income

Abstract

Over the past century, per capita output increased almost 40-fold, and the output share of agriculture declined from nearly 70% to 2% in the southern half of the Korean peninsula, which was mirrored by the growing importance of the manufacturing and service sectors. This chapter presents the national accounts of colonial and South Korea estimated within the framework of the System of National Accounts as recommended by the United Nations

Nak Nyeon Kim

Chapter 15. Prices

Abstract

Two distinct types of price data are presented in this chapter: (1) consumer and producer price indices and (2) direct observations on the prices of individual commodities and service products.

Ki-Joo Park, Young Hoon Rhee, Young-Jun Cho

Chapter 16. Capital and Wealth

Abstract

Capital includes both tangible and intangible components, which are also known as “physical” and “human” capital, respectively. In this chapter, physical capital refers to fixed capital unless otherwise indicated, although inventory capital is also briefly discussed. While the chapters on geography (A) and agriculture (G) provide statistics on land mass and arable acreage, respectively, this chapter reproduces the value of landed asset as estimated by a team of researchers at the Bank of Korea, including the total and unit value of dry and paddy fields, woodland, and sites for residential and industrial buildings.

Myung Soo Cha

Chapter 17. Science and Technology

Abstract

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Jea Hwan Hong

Chapter 18. Business Organization

Abstract

In 1912, the colonial government of Korea promulgated a system of civil codes, allowing business organizations to exist as legal entities and triggering an explosive growth in the number of firms in the following century. The number of companies increased from 248 to 7148 from 1917 to 1945. Initiated by Japanese investment, the multiplication was driven to an increasing degree by the emergence of corporations owned and operated by Koreans. The pre-1945 boom was followed by an even more rapid proliferation of companies from 11,467 to 673,374 from 1967 to 2015 in South Korea. This chapter classifies business organizations into three types: sole ownership enterprises, corporations, and business groups, known as chaebol.

Jea Hwan Hong

Chapter 19. Monetary and Financial System

Abstract

On acquiring Korea as a protectorate in 1905, Japan enforced a comprehensive monetary reform putting an end to the currency chaos caused by debasement to introduce a system where not only metallic currency but also paper money and deposits functioned as a medium of payment. The monetary reform from 1905 to 1909 also marked the integration of Korea into the yen bloc with the notes issued by the central bank of colonial Korea being freely convertible into the Japanese yen at a fixed exchange rate of 1:1. Hence, monetary and financial statistics for Korea typically start from around 1905. Key sources of monetary and financial statistics for colonial Korea include the Statistical Yearbook of Colonial Korea and the Handbook of Financial Statistics. The South Korean authorities made money and banking statistics available through the Yearbook of Economic Statistics.

Young Mok Bae, Hun-Chang Lee, Myunghwi Lee

Chapter 20. Public Sector

Abstract

Measures of Government Finance

Jae Ho Kim

Chapter 21. Law and Order

Abstract

Court.

Duol Kim

Chapter 22. International Trade and Exchange Rates

Abstract

The South Korean growth miracle is often described as being driven by export promotion, a type of industrial policy that caused the South Korean economy to become more open to the rest of the world than it would have been without the policy intervention. Occupying Korea as a colonial possession, Japan incorporated the country into a free trade area known as the Japanese empire, which led intra-empire trade to grow quickly to account for the lion’s share of colonial Korea’s overseas trade. The openness of the Korean economy in the past century stands in contrast to the autarky prevailing until 1876, when Japan sent gunboats to force dynastic Korea to open itself to foreign trade.

Nak Nyeon Kim, Ki-Joo Park

Backmatter