Korea rises to world¡¯s 13th in GNP

Last year, Korea was ranked 13th in the world in terms of gross national product and was placed 51st in per-capita GNP. It represented a slight improvement from 1998's 15th place in GNP and 59th place in per-capita GNP.

According to the World Bank's World Development Report, released on September 12, Korea's GNP was US$397.9 billion in 1999 and was ranked 13th place immediately after Mexico. Korea's per capita GNP was US$8,490 and approached 50th place.

Also, Korea's total foreign debt as of the end of 1998 was US$139.09 billion, showing more than a four-fold increase from 1990's US$34.98 billion.

The World Bank report pointed out that Korea had achieved remarkable progress in tackling poverty during the 1990s. It also noted that Korea had expanded its social safety net, which includes unemployment insurance, public projects and family-supporting measures.

The report showed that Switzerland was the world's top-ranked country with US$38,350 in per-capita GNP, followed by Norway (US$32,880), Japan (US$32,230), Denmark (US$32,030) and the United States (US$30,600).

mickey@donga.com