The National Tax Service reveals the annual earnings of popular idols and actors, including BTS and BLACKPINK

Many people know that being a KPOP idol or a world star certainly earns a lot of money, but how much can the top 1% of artists actually earn in a year?

Recently, according to the "Current Status of Artists' Income in Various Fields from 2017 to 2021" received by the Congressional Planning and Finance Committee from the National Tax Service, the annual income of 7,729 singers who reported income in 2021 was 515.645 billion Korean Won, with an average income of 66.79 million Korean Won per person.

Among them, the top 1% earners, a total of 77 people, earned a total of 3,555.66 billion Korean won, which is 68.9% of the total income of all singers in Korea. The average income per person is as high as 46.1774 billion Korean won.

The average income of the top 1% of singers in 2017 was 31.3436 billion Korean won, in 2018 it was 34.4698 billion Korean won, in 2019 it was 22.5607 billion Korean won, and in 2020 it was 17.6652 billion Korean won.

From 2019 to 2020, due to the impact of the new epidemic, the performances and overseas activities of Korean singers decreased, resulting in a temporary reduction in income. However, with K-POP groups such as BTS, BLACKPINK, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, and NCT carrying on active activities on the global stage, the overall income level of Korean artists has greatly increased.

In 2021, the combined income of the top 1%, or 160 actors in Korea, amounted to 3,829.38 billion KRW, accounting for 48.6% of the total earnings. The average income per actor was around 22.659 billion KRW. Meanwhile, in previous years, the respective earnings were 1.593 billion KRW in 2017, 1.7256 billion KRW in 2018, 1.85539 billion KRW in 2019, and 1.78675 billion KRW in 2020, showing a gradual increase in growth rate.