South Korea saw its real household income rise in the fourth quarter last year from a year ago, ending eight consecutive quarters of decline, data by Statistics Korea showed.

An average monthly income of a household reached 4.45 million won ($4,130) in the fourth quarter, up a nominal 3.1 percent from the previous year.

The inflation-adjusted real income also surged 1.6 percent on-year. The real income had been on a decline since the last quarter of 2015.

Households’ income through wages rose 0.9 percent to an average of 2.93 million won, while transferred income that includes state welfare support, increased 10.1 percent to 468,000 won.

Income from assets and earnings from business operations also increased by 9.5 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)