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There are around 564,000 people living in the Gangnam District of Seoul, which was brought to the attention of the entire world by Psy’s song “Gangnam Style.” Gangnam is the fourth most populous of Seoul’s 25 districts.

The average age of residents in the district is 38.5 years, younger than the overall Seoul average of 39.7 years. In the Apgujeong neighborhood, however - famed as the playground of the “orange tribe” in the 1990s - 13.4% of residents are 65 years or older, surpassing Gangnam District (9.5%) as well as Seoul as a whole (5.2%).

On Jan. 15, Gangnam District officials released social indicators for the district, based on 2013 figures. These indicators make clear how much wealth is concentrated in the area.

Households earning an average of 5 million won (US$4,650) or more a month account for 35.4% of all Gangnam households, a 10.1 percentage point increase from the previous year. This is also 80% higher than the figure for Seoul as a whole, which is 19.4%. The percentage of households making between 3 and 5 million a month on average accounted for 41.3% of total households.

The statistics for private tutoring and institutes were also higher in Gangnam than in other areas. There were 2,018 private institutes in the district, meaning that there were 3.6 institutes per 1,000 individuals. This is nearly three times the ratio for Seoul.

The figures show that Gangnam households spend around 1.2 million won each month on tutoring and institutes: 670,000 won (US$620) for elementary school students, 810,000 won (US$750) for middle school students, and 1.21 million won (US$1,120) for high school students.

Furthermore, 17.6% of households had sent children overseas to study. Families spent an average of 21.79 million won (US$20,200) per year on foreign language study abroad and 118.3 million won (US$109,700) a year on formal degree programs.

5,553 non-Koreans were living in Gangnam District (2.3% of the 244,410 total living in Seoul), 549 of whom were instructors at foreign language academies.

Gangnam is also dotted with high-rise apartment complexes. As of 2010, 115,262, or 78.7%, of the 146,417 households in the district were living in condominiums. 34% of households owned the house they were living in, lower than the percentage for Seoul as a whole (41.1%).

33.7% had paid key money for their apartment - a large deposit lent to the landowner in lieu of rent - and 31.3% were paying rent. 10,430 of households (5.2%) were living in half or full basements, and 325 (0.2%) in small rooftop rooms.

Unsurprisingly for a district that originated the term “Gangnam Beauty” - referring to women who return from the plastic surgeon with similar facial features - Gangnam is chock-a-block with clinics providing plastic surgery. 320, or 74.8%, of Seoul’s 428 plastic surgery clinics are concentrated in the district.

In 2014, 45,535 foreign patients visited plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and other doctors in Gangnam District, a 30.9 percentage point increase over the previous year.

The second most common cause of death in Gangnam, after cancer, was suicide, with 28 people per 10,000 per year. This was higher than the Seoul average of 25.6.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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