Korea’s per-capita income for last year is expected to be lower than the government’s earlier estimate due to faster population growth, a senior Finance Ministry official said Friday.

The government earlier predicted that the per-capita gross national income would range from $23,500 to $24,000 at the end of last year. It was based on the nation’s economic growth and inflation, which was projected to grow 3.8 percent and 4 percent last year.

“The per-capita GNI is expected to decline to $22,500-$24,000 as of the end of last year due to an unexpected increase in population,” said Choi Sang-mok, the director general of the Finance Ministry’s economic policy bureau.

The government will unveil exact GNI figures for last year in late March, he added.

In 2006, the government predicted that the nation’s population will grow to 48.99 million at the end of 2011. But it was revised upward to 49.78 million in its latest forecast unveiled last month.

Still, the nation’s income level will likely hit a record high for 2011. Based on the outlook, the per-capita GNI will be up by 10.8 percent compared to $20,759 tallied in 2010.

Korea’s per-capita GNI surpassed the $20,000 for the first time in 2007, but it fell below the mark in 2008 in the wake of the global financial crisis. In 2009, the figure fell further to $17,193. (Yonhap News)