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| ▲ This file photo, taken July 11, 2022, shows a side street full of restaurants in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
GDP-Q2 tally
S. Korean economy grows at faster pace in Q2 on robust private spending
SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean economy grew at a faster pace in the second quarter than three months earlier as private spending picked up due to eased COVID-19 restrictions despite a fall in exports, the central bank said Tuesday.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, grew 0.7 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, accelerating from a 0.6 percent increase in the first quarter, according to an advance estimate from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The on-quarter growth picked up in the second quarter as consumer and government spending rose while exports lost steam. Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 2.9 percent on-year in the second quarter.
Consumer spending rose 3 percent on-quarter in the second quarter, as spending on semidurable goods and services, such as accommodations and restaurants, increased.
On April 18, South Korea lifted most COVID-19 restrictions, except the mask mandate, in a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life.
Government spending increased 1.1 percent due to increased fiscal spending aimed at coping with the pandemic.
But exports, which account for half of the Korean economy, shrank 3.1 percent last quarter, compared with a 3.6 percent on-quarter increase in the first quarter.
South Korea's exports growth showed signs of losing steam amid heightened external economic uncertainty from the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine, and China's COVID-19 lockdowns.
In the latest forecast made in May, the BOK expected the South Korean economy to grow 2.7 percent and inflation to rise 4.7 percent this year.
In June, the government lowered its 2022 economic growth outlook to 2.6 percent, while sharply raising this year's inflation outlook to a 14-year high of 4.7 percent.
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