Average monthly household income reached 5.295 million Korean won in the second quarter, up 4.5% from a year earlier, while consumption expenditure rose 3.4% to 2.932 million won, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics’ Second Quarter Household Trends Survey released on the 27th. After adjusting for inflation, real income increased 1.5%, but real expenditure grew only 0.4%, slowing sharply from 3.1% in the first quarter after falling 0.4% in the same quarter last year. The slowdown reflected high interest rates, inflation and exchange rates, as well as the KOSPI’s rise from the 5,400-point range in early April to 8,400 points by late June, which drew household savings and loans into equities. Household credit exceeded 2,000 trillion Korean won for the first time, while interest expenses rose 12.1%. Spending declined across several discretionary categories, including seafood, clothing, transportation, leisure, accommodation and dental services. The second-quarter surplus rose 9.6% to 1.302 million won, while the average propensity to consume fell 1.2 percentage points to 69.2%.