Posted November. 20, 2007 03:03,
Koreans spend far more on education out of total household expenditures than their counterparts do in the U.S. and Japan, according to a report released yesterday.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) compared household expenditures in Korea, the U.S. and Japan using 2005 statistics and announced on Monday that Koreans spent 6.1% of total expenditures on education, well above 2.6% in the U.S. and 2.3% in Japan.
An official from the BOK said, Considering the great enthusiasm for education in Korea, the higher percentage seems to be the result of spending on private education.
More parents, stressed out by the financial burden of private education in Korea, choose to send their children overseas to study. As a result, a rising proportion of household expenditures are going overseas. According to the BOK, the total amount of money sent to children abroad reached 3.46 billion dollars as of the end of August 2007, up 17.3% from the same period last year. The figure has been increasing by one billion dollars on an annual average from 2.4 billion dollars in 2004, 3.3 billion dollars in 2005 and 4.4 billion dollars last year. At the current pace, it is expected to break the annual 5 billion dollar mark for the first time this year.
Korean households have also spent 5.4% of their income on communications services, including Internet and mobile phone services, far exceeding the 1.6% spent in the U.S. and the 3.1% spent in Japan.