South Korean customers were more satisfied with their goods and services in 2022, compared to those in the US, Japan and Singapore, according to the National Consumer Satisfaction Index published annually by the Korea Productivity Center.

The index is not only a measure of consumer satisfaction, but an indicator of the economic performance by companies, government agencies, and the macroeconomy as a whole. Similar standards are adopted by over 30 countries worldwide which use the same metrics to identify sectors or industries that lag behind or excel.

South Korea’s NCSI recorded 78.4 in 2022, up 0.3 points from 2021. It was 5.2 points higher than the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, which logged 73.2 points this year. The South Korean index did better in nine out of the 10 comparable economic sectors.

The sectors in which South Korea did better than the US include public services, defense and social security, health care and social services, information and communication services, electricity, gas, wholesale and resale services, and financial and insurance services.

South Korea only lagged behind in nondurable goods.

By industry, Korea scored better than the US in 35 industries, while it fell behind in two. South Korea held the largest lead in the Telecommunications and Healthcare industries, and recorded similar levels of consumer satisfaction in four industries.

Korea’s satisfaction index has scored higher than that of the US since 2019.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s NCSI was also generally higher than its Japanese counterpart.

The Japanese Consumer Satisfaction Index has been constantly expanding the number of companies it assesses since 2009. However, South Koreans showed a higher level of consumer satisfaction across all comparable industries in 2022.

Finance-related sectors showed the largest gap, with South Korea leading by 8.2 points in banking, 7.6 points in credit cards, and more than 8 points in brokerages.

South Korea also outranked Singapore in consumer satisfaction across all 16 comparable sectors.

High-speed internet services drove the gap in satisfaction levels, with Korea scoring 10.7 points higher than the Southeast Asian country. South Korea also scored higher in the areas of internet television services, department stores, mobile services, and e-commerce.

Modeled after the ACSI developed by the University of Michigan, the NCSI was launched in 1998, and has worked to encourage companies and the government to provide better goods and services.

The satisfaction levels are measured through in-person reviews, and serve the purpose of gauging how healthy the economy is, according to the Korea Productivity Center.