Economy grows 0.9% in Q3: BOK

The South Korean economy expanded 0.9 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier as consumption recovered and builders increased investments, central bank data showed Thursday.

The third-quarter figure marks an improvement from the 0.5 percent on-quarter growth logged in the April-June period, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. The revised data is on par with an earlier estimate by the central bank on Oct. 24.

From a year earlier, gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic performance, rose 3.2 percent, slowing from 3.5 percent growth in the second quarter.

The revised data showed that Korea’s GDP got a boost from consumption, which had taken a hit from the deadly ferry disaster in April that left more than 300 people dead or missing. Private spending rose 1 percent on-quarter, turning around from a 0.3 percent slip in the second quarter.

Construction investments gained 2.5 percent in the July-September period, accelerating from 0.4 percent growth in the previous quarter.

But Asia’s fourth-largest economy is not on a full-fledged recovery path, according to the data.

Facility investment slipped 0.5 percent on-quarter, compared with a 1.1 percent increase three months earlier. It slightly quickened from a 0.8 percent estimate from October.

Exports, the key engine that drives Asia’s fourth-largest economy, slowed 2.2 percent on-quarter, contracting for the first time since a 1.1 percent fall in the same period a year earlier.

The earlier estimate had shown that exports slumped 2.6 percent.

“The gap in the figures came as survey results and September data were included,” said Cho Yong-seung, director of the BOK’s National Accounts Division.

By sector, GDP generated by the manufacturing sector fell 0.8 percent on-quarter in the July-September, swinging from a 0.9 percent expansion in the second quarter, as demand for liquid-crystal displays and smartphones weakened.

Other sectors saw improvements, with growth in the construction sector reaching 1.1 percent, accelerating from a 0.2 percent gain a quarter ago, and that in the service sector rising 1.4 percent, up from a 0.6 percent expansion three months earlier. (Yonhap)