The average worker in Korea faced a tax burden on labour income (tax wedge) of 21.4% in 2013 compared with the OECD average of 35.9%. Korea was ranked 30 of the 34 OECD member countries in this respect.

Some examples of the results reflected in the Overview charts for Korea are (☜ Click) :

• The tax burden for the single average worker increased by 5 percentage points from 16.4% to 21.4% between 2000 and 2013. Between 2009 and 2013, there was an increase of 1.9 percentage points.
• The corresponding figures for the OECD were a decrease of 0.8 percentage points from 36.7% to 35.9% between 2000 and 2013 and an increase of 0.8 percentage points between 2009 and 2013.
• The tax burden for the one-earner couple with 2 children at the AW level increased by 3.3 percentage points from 15.7% to 19.0% between 2000 and 2013. Between 2009 and 2013, there was an increase of 1.9 percentage points.
• The corresponding figures for the OECD were a decrease of 1.3 percentage points from 27.7% to 26.4% between 2000 and 2013 and an increase of 1.4 percentage points between 2009 and 2013.