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Korea's GDP posts fastest quarterly growth in more than 5 years: BOK

Published: 23 Apr. 2026, 10:03

Containers are stacked at a port in the city of Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on April 1. [YONHAP]

Despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, the Korean economy posted its fastest quarterly growth in five-and-a-half years in the first quarter, supported by solid exports and resilient domestic demand, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's real GDP — a key measure of economic growth — rose 1.7 percent in the January to March period compared to three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the strongest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2020, when the economy expanded 2.2 percent. The figure was also nearly twice the BOK's forecast of 0.9 percent growth.

Asia's fourth-largest economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2025 before recovering with growth of 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent in the following quarters. But it backtracked in the fourth quarter, declining 0.2 percent amid weak facility investment and a downturn in the construction sector.

Overall, the economy expanded 1 percent in 2025.

In detail, exports rose 5.1 percent from the previous quarter on the back of strong global demand for semiconductors, marking the fastest growth since the third quarter of 2020.

Private consumption added 0.5 percent, and government spending edged up 0.1 percent. Facility investment increased 4.8 percent on a quarterly basis, and construction investment grew 2.8 percent.

On an on-year basis, the economy expanded 3.6 percent in the first quarter, up from the 1.6 percent growth in the previous quarter, the data showed.

Real gross domestic income rose 7.5 percent on quarter in the first quarter, marking the highest level since the first quarter of 1988, when it reached 8 percent.

In its latest outlook published in February, the BOK projected the economy to grow 2 percent in 2026. But the central bank said last week that growth momentum has weakened and that this year's growth is likely to come in below its earlier forecast due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Yonhap