The average household income dropped during the second quarter amid an absence of COVID-19 relief payouts, in contrast to the previous year, further widening the income gap among different socioeconomic brackets.

According to data from Statistics Korea on Thursday, the average monthly income stood at four-point-28 million won, down point-seven percent from a year earlier.

While earned and business income expanded six-point-five percent and three-point-six percent, respectively, transfer income, including government subsidies, declined 28-point-six percent.

While transfer income, which includes the payouts, took up 46-point-four percent of total income for the lowest 20-percent income bracket. Their average income fell six-point-three percent to 966-thousand won in the second quarter.

Income for those in the upper 20-percent income bracket rose, expanding one-point-four percent to a monthly average of nine-point-24 million won.

The distribution ratio for disposable income stood at five-point-59 in the second quarter, up from five-point-03 a year earlier. This indicates that the top 20-percent had five-point-59 times more earnings than those in the bottom 20-percent.