South Korea GDP Set Back 2.9% in Q2

South Korea’s real gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 2.9% in the Q2 from the same time period last year, marking the slowest growth since a 3.8% on-year contraction recorded in the last quarter of 1998, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

On quarterly comparison, the economy contracted 3.3%, the slowest on-quarter growth since the first quarter of 1998, the year Asian Financial Crisis took place.

BOK's economic statistics office contributed the contraction mainly due to the drop in export from the lockdown.

Export fell 13.6% on-year in the second quarter, marking a turnaround from a 5.6% on-year increase in the first three months of the year.

In the first quarter this year, economy retreated 1.3% on-quarter. On yearly basis, the economy expanded 1.4% in the January-March period.

- APMR News