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Republic of Korea Economic Bulletin, February 2025

  • Date 2025-02-03 11:19
  • CategoryResearch and Education
  • Hit590

The Economic Information and Education Center (EIEC) of KDI published the monthly periodical “Republic of Korea Economic Bulletin, February 2025” to promote a greater understanding of the Korean economy by providing readers with information on the latest economic trends and policy issues as well as relevant news and current events. 

The February publication provides updated information related to the overall Korea’s economy including 2025 Economic Policy Directions, Korea’s GDP in 2024, Korea’s interest rate, and Korean FDI in 2024.

Main content is as follows: 

[Economic Bulletin, February 2025]

[Current Economic Trends] 

1. Economic activity

2. Financial markets

3. Public finance

[Policy Issue] 

- 2025 Economic Policy Directions

[Economic News Briefing]

- Korea’s GDP Increased by 2.0 % in 2024 (Advance Estimate) 

- Bank of Korea Maintains Benchmark Interest Rate at 3.00%

- Korea’s inbound FDI Totals US $34.6 billion in 2024

Overview

In November, retail sales increased while industrial production, services production, facilities investment, and construction investment decreased from the previous month. In December, job growth decreased and consumer prices continued to moderate.

In November, total production fell (down 0.4% m-o-m and down 0.3% y-o-y), as industrial production (down 0.7% m-o-m and up 0.1% y-o-y), services production (down 0.2% m-o-m and up 1.0% y-o-y), construction production (down 0.2% and down 12.9% y-o-y) declined. 

In November, retail sales (up 0.4% m-o-m and down 1.9% y-o-y) rose, while facilities investment (down 1.6% m-o-m and up 2.6% y-o-y) and construction investment (down 0.2% m-o-m and down 12.9% y-o-y) decreased.

In December, exports increased by 6.6 percent from a year ago, driven by stronger exports in the IT products including semiconductor.

In December, the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) decreased by 12.3 points to 88.4 month-on-month. The Composite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) moved down by 4.5 points to 87.0 in December, while the CBSI outlook for January 2025 fell by 7.3 points to 82.4.

In November, the cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index fell by 0.5 points, while the cyclical indicator of the leading composite index rose by 0.1 point.

In December, the employment decreased by 52,000 jobs compared to the previous year and the unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percentage point from a year ago to 3.8 percent.

In December, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew by 1.9 percent year-on-year. The index when excluding food and energy prices increased by 1.8 percent, and 1.8 percent when excluding agricultural and petroleum products. The CPI for basic necessities rose by 2.2 percent.

In December, Korean equity prices were down and yields for Korean Treasury Bond were up, and the Korean Won weakened against the dollar.

In December, housing prices turned to fall (down 0.07% m-o-m) and Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) prices moderated (up 0.01% m-o-m).

Recently, the Korean economy has experienced a slowdown in employment and rising downward pressure on growth as the expansion of domestic and external uncertainties has dampened economic sentiment. 

The global economy is showing an overall recovery, but amid ongoing geopolitical risks, factors such as potential changes in trade environments are increasing uncertainties. 

With the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Affairs serving as the control tower, relevant government agencies would work in coordination to swiftly implement the 2025 Economic Policy Directions, aiming to manage the economy as stably as possible.

If you have any inquiries, please feel free to contact us.

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

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