Containers are stacked at a pier in Korea's largest port city of Busan, July 2. Yonhap
The Korean economy expanded 1 percent in 2025 amid strong exports but posted negative growth in the fourth quarter, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) — a key measure of economic growth — contracted 0.2 percent from the previous quarter in the October-December period, compared with its earlier estimate of a 0.3 percent contraction, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the country's first quarterly contraction since the January-March period of last year, when the economy shrank 0.2 percent.
On an on-year basis, GDP grew 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter, down from a 1.8 percent on-year expansion in the prior quarter.
For the entire year of 2025, the economy expanded 1 percent, matching the BOK's earlier estimate and slowing from the previous year's 2 percent growth.
The economy unexpectedly shrunk 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2025 from the previous quarter as a domestic political crisis triggered by then President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration, along with uncertainties stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff measures, weighed on consumer spending and dampened export growth.
But the economy rebounded in the second and third quarters, posting growth of 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, on the back of government stimulus measures and robust exports amid the semiconductor upcycle.
The data also showed that the country's per capita nominal gross national income (GNI) stood at $36,855 in 2025, marking a 0.3 percent increase from a year earlier.
In terms of the Korean won, the GNI climbed 4.6 percent amid the weakness of the local currency, the BOK said.
Source: Korea Times News
