JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's gross national income (GNI) is forecast to grow to $30,000 per capita by 2014 before increasing by an additional $10,000 in the four years that follow, the finance minister said on Saturday.

"Our country's gross national income may exceed $30,000 in the first quarter of 2014 and $40,000 in 2018," Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said in a forum held on Jeju Island.

He said the country may take about seven years from 2007 to jump to the GNI level of $30,000 from the $20,000 mark, adding the pace is not very slow.

Germany took four years to achieve the feat while Japan made it in a five-year period, according to the minister.

South Korea's GNI, reflecting the actual purchasing power of the population, rose 5.5 percent on-year in 2010, the fastest growth in eight years, to reach $20,759 per capita.

It was up from $17,193 the previous year, according to the central bank.

The GNI per capita surpassed the $20,000 mark for the first time since 2007 as the economy grew and the local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.