The Economic Information and Education Center (EIEC) of KDI published the monthly periodical “Republic of Korea Economic Bulletin, January 2024” to promote a greater understanding of the Korean economy by providing readers information on the latest economic trends and policy issues as well as relevant news and current events. 

The January publication provides the updated information related to the overall Korea’s economy including Korea’s GDP in Q3 2023, External Debt in Q3 2023, Korean FDI in Q3 2023 and Korea-Vietnam Economic Cooperation. Main content is as follows: 

[Economic Bulletin, January 2024]

[Current Economic Trends] 

1. Economic activity

2. Financial markets

3. Public finance

[Economic News Briefing]

1. Korean economy grew by 0.6% in Q3 2023

2. External debt decreases to US $649.3 billion in Q3 2023

3. Korean FDI totals US $14.62 billion in Q3 2023

4. Korea and Vietnam to promote Cooperation on strengthening supply chain for key minerals

Overview

In October, industrial and services production, retail sales, facility investment declined while construction investment increased. In November, job growth and inflation slowed down.

In October, total production fell (down 1.6% month-on-month and up 1.0% y-o-y) as industrial production (down 3.5% m-o-m and up 1.1% y-o-y) and services production decreased (down 0.9% m-o-m and up 0.8% y-o-y).

In October, retail sales (down 0.8% m-o-m and down 4.4% y-o-y), facility investment declined (down 3.3% m-o-m and down 9.7% y-o-y) while construction investment rose (up 0.7% m-o-m and up 4.1% y-o-y).

In November, exports increased by 7.8 percent from a year ago, driven by exports of automobiles, vessels and secondary batteries. The daily average of exports increased by 7.8 percent from a year ago to US $2.32 billion. 

In November, the consumer sentiment index (CSI) fell by 0.9 points to 97.2 from the previous month. The business survey index (BSI) remained steady at 70 from the previous month and the BSI outlook for December was unchanged, remaining at 69.

In October, the cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index decreased by 0.1 points from the previous month, while the cyclical indicator of the leading composite index increased by 0.3 points.

In November, the economy added 277 thousand jobs compared to the previous year and the unemployment rate remained unchanged from a year ago at 2.3 percent.

In November, consumer prices rose at a slower pace, increasing by 3.3 percent from the previous month. The CPI excluding the food and energy prices increased by 3.0 percent, and the index excluding the agricultural and petroleum products increased by 3.3 percent. The CPI for of basic necessities rose by 4.0 percent.

In November, the Korean equity market was up for the month while treasury bond yields fell amid a strengthening Won, as expectations of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve subsided.

In November, the growth of housing prices slowed down (from up 0.20% to up 0.04% m-o-m), and Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) prices growth also slowed down (from up 0.36% to up 0.27% m-o-m).

Recently, inflation has moderated in the Korean economy. Despite uneven recovery across the economy, gradual signs of an upturn are emerging, mainly driven by a rebound in manufacturing production and exports especially semiconductors as well as strong job growth.

Internationally, concerns of a weak economic recovery persist amid expectations of growth in the global IT industry. At the same time, geopolitical risks and supply chain instability remain heightened due to political unrest in the Middle East and the on-going Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The government will meticulously manage risks at home and abroad as well as improve its fundamental economic structure, while placing top priority on stabilizing prices and the public’s livelihood. In addition, strengthened endeavors will be made to expand the export-driven economic rebound momentum throughout the entire economy.

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(KDI Economic Bulletin, +82-44-550-4170, sjung@kdi.re.kr)