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Global institutions expect Korea's economic growth to rebound to 1.8 percent in 2026: Report

Published: 31 Aug. 2025, 16:28

The photo shows export containers stacked at Pyeongtaek Port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Aug. 26. [NEWS1]

Korea's economy may have hit bottom this year, with growth expected to rebound to a near 2 percent range next year, a report showed on Sunday.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the average growth forecast for the Korean economy by 41 local and international organizations for 2026 was 1.8 percent, which, if realized, would mark a notable rebound from the 0.9 percent growth projected for this year by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The average forecast is 0.2 percentage points higher than the 1.6 percent growth projected by the Korean central bank last week and is in line with an earlier projection by the Seoul government.

So far, 19 local and global institutions have also provided 2027 outlooks for Asia's fourth-largest economy, which averaged 2 percent, according to the report.

The projection surpasses the country's potential growth rate, which stands at 1.9 percent, according to an earlier estimate by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The BOK earlier forecast the local economy to grow 1.1 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis in the July-September period, possibly marking one of the five steepest growth rates among 37 major economies.

Such a favorable outlook was partly attributed to strong exports driven by increased demand for semiconductors and recovery in domestic consumption.

Yonhap