Korea's Economy Shrinks 1%
27 January, 2021
The Korean economy shrank last year for the very first time since the Asian financial meltdown as a result of coronavirus pandemic. THE LENDER of Korea stated Tuesday that GDP declined one percent.
Economic growth have been sputtering already before the pandemic struck, with growth below three percent for the last three years.
But last years' economic performance was slightly better than the BOK's projection of -1.1 percent and much better than various other major economies.
Except China, most important countries' economies shrank in 2020. Based on the OECD, the U.S. economy contracted around 3.7 percent, the EU 7.5 percent and the global economy 4.2 percent.
Park Yang-su at the BOK said, "Government and private-sector investment increased, producing a better-than-expected performance. Despite the shock of the 3rd wave of coronavirus infections towards the end of this past year, exports fared much better than feared led by semiconductors and chemical products."
Another factor was the fact that manufacturing makes up about a bigger proportion of Korea's economy than tourism and services, while a well-established online-shopping infrastructure kept sales great in comparison to other countries.
Source:
TAG(s):