South Korean artists released an average 3.8 artistic works to the public in 2021, a sharp drop from 7.8 pieces in 2018, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, a government survey showed.

According to the Culture Ministry’s triennial survey on 5,000 people in the art industry, the classical music scene was the busiest in 2021 out of 14 art sectors, with 6.4 public works released on average, followed by 5.8 pieces by Korean traditional musicians and 4.7 shows from the entertainment industry.

The poll also showed that 14.4 percent of the artists participated in a project outside Korea in 2021. The number was 23.1 percent in 2018.

An individual artist earned an average 7.55 million won ($6,300) from artistic activities in 2021, down from 12.81 million won three years ago. Some 41 percent said they had no income at all. (Yonhap)