South Korea 2013 GDP +3.0% on year
2014-03-26 10:14:39
South Korea's gross domestic product expanded 3.0 percent on year in 2013, the Bank of Korea said in Wednesday's revised report.
That's up from 2.8 percent in January's advance estimate, and it's faster than the 2.0 percent growth in 2012.
The growth in real GDP was due mainly to solid expansion in construction investment, intellectual property products investment and exports, amid continuous increase in private consumption, the central bank said. The rate of facilities investment growth meanwhile slumped.
Real gross national income increased by 4.0 percent on year.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing shifted to a sharp increase in output of 5.8 percent in 2013, owing mostly to favorable weather conditions, the bank said.
Manufacturing climbed 3.3 percent driven by increased production of electrical and electronic equipment, chemical products, precision instruments and transportation equipment.
Construction jumped 3.6 percent, due to growth in residential and non-residential building construction.
Services climbed 2.9 percent, as growth picked up in the real estate & leasing sector and business activities increased. The paces of growth in information and& communications and in education meanwhile slowed, the bank said.
Private consumption added 2.0 percent in 2013. While the growth of durables expenditure slowed, semi-durables shifted to positive growth and non-durables and services maintained their growth trend.
Gross fixed capital formation spiked 4.2 percent, while construction investment surged 6.7 percent, mainly owing to the growth of residential and non-residential construction.
Facilities investment in contrast shed 1.5 percent, driven by a drop in machinery investment. Intellectual property products investment surged 7.3 percent, as R&D and other intellectual property investment increased.
Exports of goods and services expanded 4.3 percent, led by the growth in exports of electrical and electronic equipment, chemical products and automobiles, the bank said.
The GDP deflator added 0.7 percent in 2013, slowing from the 1.0 percent increase during the previous year.
The gross saving ratio added 0.2 percentage point, from 34.2 percent in 2012 to 34.4 percent in 2013, led upward by the private sector. The gross domestic investment ratio meanwhile fell from 30.8 to 28.8 percent.
For the fourth quarter of 2013, GDP gained a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent on quarter - in line with expectations and unchanged from January's advance estimate. GDP was up 1.1 percent on quarter in Q3.
On a yearly basis, GDP was revised down to 3.7 percent; forecasts suggested no change from the estimate of 3.9 percent. GDP was up 3.4 percent on year in the third quarter.