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Economics: Korea
Economics – Markets – Strategy
Korea Economic Indicators
2007 2008f 2009f 1Q08 2Q08f 3Q08f 4Q08f 1Q09f 2Q09f
Real output and demand
GDP (00P) 5.0 4.6 5.0 5.7 4.8 4.3 3.8 4.3 4.8
Private consumption 4.5 2.7 3.2 3.4 2.9 2.2 2.2 2.5 3.0
Government consumption 5.8 2.7 3.1 4.0 2.6 2.9 1.5 2.5 2.8
Gross fixed capital formation 4.0 1.1 3.9 0.3 0.4 1.9 1.8 3.5 4.2
Net exports (KRW trn) 87 108 124 25 26 30 28 30 30
Exports 12.1 13.5 12.6 11.7 16.2 16.3 10.0 14.6 10.3
Imports 11.9 11.1 12.1 9.2 13.8 13.9 7.8 13.0 8.9
External (nominal)
Merch exports (USD bn) 371 448 524 99 116 113 119 118 133
- % YoY 14.1 20.7 16.8 17.4 24.8 25.3 15.7 18.2 14.8
Merch imports (USD bn) 357 443 510 105 113 109 116 117 127
- % YoY 15.3 24.2 15.0 28.2 28.1 26.4 15.7 10.7 12.3
Trade balance (USD bn) 15 5 14 -6 3 5 3 1 7
Current account balance (USD bn) 6 -3 5 - - - - - -
% of GDP 0.6 -0.3 0.5 - - - - - -
Foreign reserves (USD bn, eop) 262 265 276 - - - - - -
Inflation
CPI inflation 2.5 4.6 3.0 3.8 4.8 5.5 4.3 3.3 2.4
Other
Nominal GDP (USD bn) 970 942 959 - - - - - -
Unemployment rate (%, sa) 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.1
* % change, year-on-year, unless otherwise specified
KR – nominal exchange
KRW per USD
1,060
1,040
1,020
1,000
980
960
940
920
900
6/11/2007 10/10/2007 2/8/2008 6/10/2008
KR – policy rate
%, target rate
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
Jan-01 Nov-02 Sep-04 Jul-06 May-08
Sources for charts and tables are CEIC, Bloomberg and DBS Research (forecasts and data transformations)
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