SEOUL, October 24 (.) – The Bank of Korea (BoK) announced this Thursday that the South Korean economy grew by 0.1% from the previous quarter from July to September, but this was lower than expected given the slump in exports. The level has fallen below.
The data was lower than analysts expected, who had expected South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to be around 0.5 percentage points, Asia’s fourth-largest economy growing by 1.3% and 0.2%, respectively, in 2019. There is also evidence of a slowdown in 1st and 2nd quarter.
On an annual basis, South Korea grew by 1.5%, an improvement from the 0.2% contraction recorded in April-June.
Exports, the backbone of the Asian economy, expanded by 1.2% in the April-June period, but contracted by 0.4% in the third quarter compared with the previous three months.
Meanwhile, imports increased by 1.5% and public spending increased by 0.6%.
Capital investment expanded by 0.7% in the July-September period, but construction investment in particular (another important component that contracted by 1.7% in the April-June period) fell by 2.8% compared to the second quarter.
On the other hand, personal consumption, which had decreased by 0.2% from April to June, showed signs of recovery, expanding by 0.5% this time.
After South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, slowed to 0.7% growth in 2023, its worst level in three years, the Bank of Korea maintained its forecast for 2.0% growth in 2024.
After an uninterrupted upward cycle from April 2022 to January 2023 due to high inflation, the issuer cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25% in early October.
But weak domestic demand and concerns about a possible recession, as well as slowing price growth, have led the Bank of Korea to open up on restrictive policies.
