Korea’s Economic Growth Rate Expected to Hit Bottom among Asian Countries

Korea’s economic growth rate is expected to remain at the bottom among major Asian countries this year once again.

According to ‘Focus on the World Economy’ released by the Bank of Korea on July 23, among 11 major Asian economies except Japan, China will see its economy grow by around 10%, and India, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong will grow by more than 5%. By contrast, the Korean economy is expected to grow by only 4.5%, in the same range with Thailand and Taiwan (3.5% and 4.5%, respectively).

The outlook of the world’s economy published by the Bank of Korea is based on a comparative analysis of economy outlooks by international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and five investment banks, including JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. In the first quarter, Korea’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate was 4.0%, the lowest among major Asian countries except Japan (2.0%).

ssoo@donga.com