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Indicators of economy in South Korea

The essential economic performance of a country is reflected by the gross domestic product, the total of all goods and services sold. Worldwide gross domestic product in 2021 was at about 12,183 USD per capita. GDP in South Korea, on the other hand, reached USD 34,998 per capita, or 1.811 trillion USD for the whole country. South Korea is therefore one of the world's largest economies and is currently at rank 10. If this is calculated per inhabitant, taking purchasing power parity into account, then South Korea ranks 30th in the list of the richest countries.

Inflation in South Korea in 2022 was around 5.09%. Within the EU, the average in the same year was 9.22 percent. In the United States, it was most recently 8.00%.

The index for perceived corruption in the public sector is 63, which is rather mediocre by global standards.


Back to overview: South Korea

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Overall, the gross domestic product in South Korea in 2020 decreased moderatly from 1.651 trillion US dollars to 1.644 trillion US dollars. Certainly, there have been shifts in some sectors of the economy, but a drop of 0.43 percent is still comparatively good this year. Numerous countries suffered more substantial losses. The tourism sector alone slumped by around 54 percent. The unemployment rate rose from 3.8 to 3.9 percent. The consumer inflation rate has risen from 0.4 percent previously to 0.5 percent now.

In 2021, there was already a recovery and the gross domestic product increased to 1.811 trillion US dollars (=109.7% of 2019).

Income and purchasing power

The average monthly income in South Korea is 2,926 US Dollar per capita. In the USA, the figure is 5,911 US Dollar. However, the prices of consumer goods are also around 22.3 percent lower than in the USA. If you compare income and price levels, the result is a more expensive life in South Korea than in the United States. The bottom line is that the costs do not offset the lower income, and you get about 36.3 percent less.

However, it is also important to remember that this is a purely statistical model. Both the labor output and the type and quality of the goods received always correspond to the national average on both sides of the equation - so they do not necessarily have to match. Here you can also find an international comparison of cost of living and purchasing power.

Unemployment rates in percentages 1991 - 2022

Economic performance 2021

 South Korea
Total
South Korea
per capita
EU
Total
EU
per capita
GDP1.811 tn USD34,997.78 USD17.177 tn USD33,384.92 USD
Gross national product1.817 tn USD35,109.43 USD16.895 tn USD32,835.37 USD


In the Global Innovation Index, South Korea ranked 6th in 2022 with 57.8 points. The index is calculated annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and most recently included 132 countries. The top country was Switzerland with 64.6 points. Out of the 2,000 largest listed companies in the world, 65 originate from South Korea. This is determined annually in the Forbes Global 2000 list. The 10 largest companies in the country in 2022 were:

Rank 14: Samsung Group (Seoul)
Rank 147: Hyundai Motor (Seoul)
Rank 170: SK Hynix (Icheon)
Rank 257: KB Financial Group (Seoul)
Rank 279: Shinhan Financial Group (Seoul)
Rank 283: KIA (Seoul)
Rank 285: Posco (Seoul)
Rank 333: LG Chem (Seoul)
Rank 399: SK (Seoul)
Rank 483: Hana Financial Group (Seoul)

Development of gross domestic product in billions of USD 1960 - 2021




Imports and Exports 2022

 South Korea
Total
South Korea
per capita
EU
Total
EU
per capita
Imports698.10 bn USD13,491.25 USD8.916 tn USD17,329.02 USD
Exports771.20 bn USD14,903.93 USD9.554 tn USD18,569.19 USD


Development of imports and exports in billions of USD 1976 - 2022

Exports
Imports



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