The Economic Information and Education Center (EIEC) of KDI published the monthly periodical “Republic of Korea Economic Bulletin, September 2023” in English to provide information on Korea’s current economic trends, policy issues, various economic news and key economic indicators to foreign countries. 

The September publication provides the updated information related to the overall Korea’s economy including 2023 tax revision bill, measures to boost investment in emerging industries, Korea-Africa mutual economic partnership, Korea-Laos discussions on greenhouse gas mitigation, and Korea-Ecuador supply chain cooperation. Main content is as follows: 

[Economic Bulletin, September 2023]

[Current Economic Trends] 

1. Economic activity

2. Financial markets

3. Public finance

[Policy Issue]

2023 tax revision bill

[Economic News Briefing]

1. Government to help boost investment in emerging industries

2. Korea and Africa to enhance bilateral economic cooperation

3. Korea and Laos discuss closer ties on GHG mitigation

4. Korea to bolster supply chain cooperation with Ecuador

Overview

In June, services production, retail sales and facility investment increased, while industrial production and construction investment decreased. In July, employment increased at a slower rate, and CPI inflation continued to slow down. 

In June, all industry production rose 0.1 percent month-on-month (up 1.1% y-o-y) as services production (up 0.5% m-o-m and up 3.5% y-o-y) increased while industrial production (down 1.0% m-o-m and down 5.6% y-o-y) decreased from the previous month. 

In June, retail sales (up 1.0% m-o-m and up 1.4% y-o-y) and facility investment (up 0.2% m-o-m but down 0.6% y-o-y) increased while construction investment (down 2.5% m-o-m but up 8.9% y-o-y) decreased from the previous month. 

Exports fell 16.5 percent year-on-year in July as the unit prices of semiconductors and petroleum products declined. Average daily exports decreased 16.5 percent year-on-year to US $2.14 billion in July. 

The consumer sentiment index (CSI) rose 2.5 points month-on-month in July to 103.2. The business survey index (BSI) for all industries fell 2 points to 74, and the BSI outlook for August fell 2 points to 73. 

In June, the cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index fell 0.2 points month-on-month, and the cyclical indicator of the leading composite index rose 0.3 points. 

In July, the economy added 211 thousand jobs year-on-year, and the unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 2.7 percent. 

In July, consumer prices rose at a slower pace by 2.3 percent year-on-year, the CPI excluding the food and energy sectors rose by 3.3 percent, and the index excluding the agricultural and petroleum products rose by 3.9 percent. The index of the cost of basic necessities rose by 1.8 percent. 

In July, stock prices growth rose on soft landing hopes for the US economy and expectations of price stability. The won strengthened, and Korean Treasury yields rose amid worries about a prolonged monetary tightening. 

In July, housing price growth turned positive (from down 0.05% to up 0.03% m-o-m), and the falls in Jeonse prices (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) were slower than the previous month (from down 0.16% to down 0.04% m-o-m). 

With the continued easing of inflation in Korea, the economic slowdown somewhat eased as indicated by the recovery in export volumes of semiconductors, improved economic sentiment and solid employment growth. 

Internationally, amid continued expectations for a potential upturn in the IT industry, the anticipations of China’s reopening and worries about its restrictions were mixed. At the same time, uncertainties persisted because of the monetary tightening, impacts of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, and commodities price volatility. 

The government is pushing for measures to stabilize households’ livelihoods by swiftly responding to inflation concerns and damages caused by heatwaves and heavy rainfall while making all-out efforts to enhance economic vitality for the second half of the year, manage domestic and international risks thoroughly and improve the economic structure. 

Please click on the Economic Bulletin banner below to see and download the latest full PDF including previous editions.  

Printed publications are available at the Information Desk in KDIS Library (3F) and the Display Table in KDI Central Library (5F).

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

(KDI Economic Bulletin, +82-44-550-4621, hs.hwang@kdi.re.kr)