The rate of Koreans escaping poverty or moving into the upper income brackets has slowed over a five-year period, a report showed on Monday.

According to Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the proportion of poor households that moved out of poverty fell to 31.3 percent in 2008-09 from 35.4 percent in 2005-06

The proportion of people moving into poverty, however, continued on oscillating pattern within 6.7-7.7 percent during the same period.

The report studied a total of 5,637 households and their disposable income between 2005 and 2009. It established the poverty line as 50 percent of the median equivalized household income.

“The decrease in the poverty exit rate with the entry rate staying in the constant range indicates the probability of Korea facing persistent poverty,” officials said.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)