Farming households' average income down 3.4 pct in 2022: data

▲ A farmer collects tea leaves at a farm on the southern resort island of Jeju on May 17, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ Fishermen shake off anchovies from a net at a port in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in this file photo taken on March 28, 2023. (Yonhap)

farmers-average income

Farming households' average income down 3.4 pct in 2022: data

SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's farming households saw their average annual income fall 3.4 percent on-year in 2022, data showed Thursday, due to falling market prices and rising operating costs.

The average annual income of farming households came to 46.15 million won (US$34,600), compared with 47.76 million won tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The households' profits from selling products fell 26.8 percent on-year to reach 9.49 million won, the data showed.

"The average income was affected by the falling prices of rice, grain and livestock products, along with the rise in oil prices," an official from the agency said.

The average assets of farming households moved up 5.3 percent to reach 616 million won, with their debt falling 4.3 percent over the period to 35 million won, the agency added.

The annual income of households in the fishery industry, meanwhile, moved up 1 percent on-year to reach 52.91 million won, on the back of higher returns from fish and seaweed production.

The households' assets moved up 1.8 percent on-year to 510 million won, while debts fell 7.2 percent to 59.78 million won.

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