The total amount of donation in South Korea is available in National Tax Service, as individual donations and corporate donations are reported to it. It means the unreported amount, which did not receive tax benefits, is not included.

  • NTS publishhes the annual national tax statistics in December of the following year. As of January 2023, the 2021 National Tax Statistical Yearbook, issued in December 2022, is the latest one.
  • Over past 20 years, the average amount of individual donations account for 65%, that of corporate donations account for 35%. Since 1998, the total amount of individual donations has surpassed the total corporate donations.
  • The total donation amount in 2021 is 15.6 trillion won(KRW); it highly increased compared to the total amount of donation in 2020, 14.4 trillion won.

Total Amount of Donation in South Korea

(Unit: Trillion KRW)                                                              

Total donation amount 1999 to 2021Source: National Tax Statistical Yearbook of National Tax Service, Reorganized by Center on Philanthropy, The Beautiful Foundation

  • The graph below shows the total amount, reflecting the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Korea. It is necessary to consider the inflation rate to check the actual variation of the total donation amount. For example, from 2013 to 2017, the total donation amount seems to slightly increase to 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.9, and 13 trillion won, but it has stagnated or decreased to 13.4, 13.4, 13.4, 13.4, and 13.3 trillion won as the CPI is applied to it.
  • The total amount of donation increased approximately 6% in 2021, even though the CPI also increased this year.
  • The amount of individual donations in 2021 has reached 10 trillion won for the first time. On the other hand, the amount of corporate donations decreased about 0.24 trillion won.

Total Donation Amount in South Korea (CPI Reflected)

(Unit: Trillion KRW)                                                           Total donation amount 1999 to 2021_inflation

            

Source: National Tax Statistical Yearbook of National Tax Service, Reorganized by Center on Philanthropy, The Beautiful Foundation