Money is TimeThe Hours Index

South Korea, in hours

What the same things cost the average worker in South Korea, in hours of take-home pay.

iPhone 18 Pro ₩1,990,000

87 hours of work

The first two weeks of January, and the third until Monday 4 pm.

17th of 28. In Switzerland the same phone takes 30 hours; in Türkiye, 487.

The Hours Index · South Korea mist.huliwood.com

Three things, in South Korea

And you?

I take home a year.

That is the average worker's, after tax. Put in yours for a year, bonuses and extra months' pay included, and the card and the list redo the sums. It stays on this page.

The sums

The average full-time worker in South Korea earns ₩56,749,797 a year before tax and takes home ₩47,366,292 after income tax and social security contributions (OECD, 2025, a single worker without children). Divided by 2,080 working hours, an hour of work pays ₩22,772.

An iPhone 18 Pro: ₩1,990,000 ÷ ₩22,772 = 87 hours. The first two weeks of January, and the third until Monday 4 pm.
A Tesla Model Y: ₩49,990,000 ÷ ₩22,772 = 2,195 hours. A whole working year, and the next until mid January.
A Big Mac: ₩5,700 ÷ ₩22,772 = 0.25 hours, or 15 minutes.

The Tesla: Tesla sells no base Model Y in South Korea; the Premium RWD is the cheapest. Hours count 52 weeks of 40, whatever people in South Korea actually work. More in what the index leaves out.

Against the other 37

iPhone 18 Pro 17th of 28

  1. 1Switzerland CHF 1,199 30 hours
  2. 13 more
  3. 15Belgium €1,479 82 hours
  4. 15Finland €1,509 82 hours
  5. 17South Korea ₩1,990,000 87 hours
  6. 18France €1,479 93 hours
  7. 19Japan ¥219,800 104 hours
  8. 8 more
  9. 28Türkiye (see the note) ₺137,999 487 hours

All 28 countries on the index

Tesla Model Y 15th of 37

  1. 1Switzerland CHF 40,990 1,033 hours
  2. 11 more
  3. 13Ireland €44,339 2,043 hours
  4. 14New Zealand (see the note) NZ$67,900 2,147 hours
  5. 15South Korea (see the note) ₩49,990,000 2,195 hours
  6. 16Belgium €39,990 2,207 hours
  7. 17Finland €41,990 2,272 hours
  8. 19 more
  9. 37Mexico MX$799,000 8,716 hours

All 37 countries on the index

Big Mac joint fifth of 36

  1. 1Switzerland CHF 7.30 11 minutes
  2. 2 more
  3. 3Japan ¥500 14 minutes
  4. 5Canada C$8.17 15 minutes
  5. 5South Korea ₩5,700 15 minutes
  6. 7Netherlands €6.26 16 minutes
  7. 7United Kingdom £5.49 16 minutes
  8. 27 more
  9. 36Colombia (see the note) COP 25,900 102 minutes

All 36 countries on the index

Sources

Pay: OECD, Taxing Wages 2026: net take-home pay of a single worker without children on 100% of the average wage, 2025 (the OECD's own estimate, as for most countries).

Prices, checked 29 September 2026: Apple, the iPhone 18 Pro with 256 GB; Tesla, the cheapest Model Y on sale; The Economist, the Big Mac index, July 2026 (data, CC BY 4.0).

Your own hours Money is Time The iPhone, or anything else, in your own hours: your pay, your tax, any price, and the stretch of your working year it takes. It works in dollars, euros, pounds and francs for now, so price in KRW by typing the numbers as they are. Open the calculator →