South Korea vs Türkiye

South Korea's GDP per person at purchasing power parity was $63,125 in 2025, 1.39 times Türkiye's $45,288, so South Korea is the richer of the two by this measure. At market exchange rates, GDP per person was $36,227 in South Korea and $18,599 in Türkiye. South Korea ranks 29th and Türkiye 48th of the 186 countries with figures.

Prices across South Korea's economy averaged 140% of Türkiye's in 2025, so $100 spent in South Korea buys about what $71.56 buys in Türkiye, and a dollar goes 40% further in Türkiye. Against the United States, prices averaged 57% of US prices in South Korea and 41% in Türkiye. The World Bank's PPP conversion factor was 816.3 (Korean won) per international dollar in South Korea and 16.20 (New Turkish lira) in Türkiye.

In 2025, South Korea's GDP was $1.87 trillion at market exchange rates and $3.26 trillion at PPP; Türkiye's GDP was $1.60 trillion at market exchange rates and $3.89 trillion at PPP. At market rates South Korea's economy is 1.17 times Türkiye's, and at PPP 84%. South Korea has 51.7 million people and Türkiye 85.9 million.

In 2025, gross national income per person by the World Bank's Atlas method was $37,880 in South Korea and $16,300 in Türkiye; at PPP it was $64,210 and $44,630. The World Bank classes South Korea as high income and Türkiye as upper middle income. In household surveys, the median person's income was $54.25 a day ($19,801 a year) in South Korea, from a 2021 survey, and $27.75 a day ($10,129 a year) in Türkiye, from a 2023 survey, in 2021 international dollars.

After inflation, GDP per person at PPP grew 111% in South Korea from 2000 to 2025, 3.0% a year, and grew 151% in Türkiye, 3.8% a year. South Korea's was 1.78 times Türkiye's in 2000 and 1.49 times in 2025.

A rate that converts money between countries by what it buys rather than by the exchange rate. An international dollar buys in any country what a US dollar buys in the United States. The World Bank's International Comparison Program prices the same goods and services around the world to set these rates, so GDP at PPP compares how much economies actually produce, without exchange rate swings or price gaps.

GDP is the value of everything produced inside a country. GNI, gross national income, adds income residents earn abroad and takes away income sent to foreign owners and workers. They differ most where foreign companies or workers take a large share, as in Ireland or Luxembourg, so GNI per person is closer to what a country's residents earn.

A way of converting GNI to US dollars that averages a country's exchange rate over three years, adjusted for inflation, so one year's currency swing doesn't jump it from one income group to another. The World Bank uses it to sort countries into low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high income each July.

Median income or consumption comes from household surveys, which most countries run every few years and some haven't run in a long time. Many lower-income countries measure what households spend rather than what they earn. This page shows the latest survey from the past 15 years in the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform, with its year, and says when there isn't one.

From the World Bank's World Development Indicators, last updated October 8, 2026, with figures through 2025, and median income or consumption from its Poverty and Inequality Platform (September 22, 2026 release). Each figure is the latest the World Bank has for that country, from 2015 on; an older one is left out. The IMF publishes its own estimates, which usually differ by a few percent.

No. It's an educational comparison of official statistics. A country's average price level covers its whole economy, so your own costs in either place depend on where you live and what you buy.

• GDP and GNI in US dollars use market exchange rates; at PPP they use the World Bank's purchasing power parities, in international dollars.
• The price level is a country's GDP at market rates divided by its GDP at PPP: its prices against US prices, across the whole economy, not just what households buy. What $100 buys elsewhere is $100 times the ratio of the two price levels.
• GNI per person uses the Atlas method, the measure behind the World Bank's income groups.
• The chart is GDP per person at PPP in constant 2021 international dollars, so it shows growth after inflation.
• Figures: World Development Indicators, updated October 8, 2026; median income or consumption: Poverty and Inequality Platform, September 22, 2026 release. Series: GDP, GDP at PPP, GDP per person at PPP, PPP conversion factor, GNI per person (Atlas), GNI per person at PPP.