Korea's economy retreats 0.2 percent in Q2

Containers are stacked at a port in the southeastern city of Busan on April 1. [NEWS1]

 
Korea’s economy shrank 0.2 percent in the second quarter, a reversal from the rapid growth seen earlier this year, as domestic demand remained sluggish.
 
It is the first time since the fourth quarter of 2022 that the country logged an on-quarter negative growth.
 

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According to advance estimates by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday, the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) retreated 0.2 percent in the April-June period from a quarter earlier.
 
The base effect from the first-quarter growth of 1.3 percent, the steepest surge since the fourth quarter of 2021, partly contributed to the economic retraction. 
 
Private consumption fell 0.2 percent as expenditures on goods, such as cars and clothes, took a dip.
 
Construction investment also declined 2.1 percent, after the previous quarter’s steep rise of 3.3 percent. The first-quarter figure was the steepest rise since the 4.1 percent logged in the fourth quarter of 2019.
 
Facilities investment retreated 2.1 percent.
 
Exports increased 0.9 percent during the cited period, while imports rose 1.2 percent, driven by crude oil and petroleum products.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]