South Korea’s economy contracted sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2022 for the first time in additional than two yrs because of to weak exports and personal usage.
Gross domestic solution shrank .4% from the prior quarter in the course of the Oct-December period–the initially sequential contraction given that the second quarter of 2020–after a .3% expansion in the third quarter, showed preliminary Lender of Korea data on Thursday.
The newest reading–compared with a current market forecast of a .3% contraction–showed that personal use fell and exports declined sharply on sluggish world demand from customers for semiconductors, petrochemicals and other Korean merchandise. Government spending remained powerful but construction and facility investments remained weak.
Calendar year-on-year, the financial state expanded 1.4% in the fourth quarter–below the industry forecast of 1.5% growth–following the prior quarter’s 3.1% advancement.
For the comprehensive calendar year of 2022, the economy grew 2.6% as projected by the Financial institution of Korea. The pace of growth slowed from 4.1% in 2021.
The central bank expects the economic climate to eliminate steam further more this yr, forecasting 1.7% progress in 2023.
