BENGALURU – South Korea’s economy barely grew last quarter as persistent global trade risks and weak domestic demand continued to sap momentum, a Reuters poll of economists found.
Grappling with its worst political crisis in decades, marked by the impeachment of the president, consumer sentiment took a hit in Asia’s fourth-largest economy which was compounded by US President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on key exports to the United States.
South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) probably grew a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in previous quarter, according to the median forecast of 23 economists in the April 15-21 poll, matching the growth rate of the last two quarters of 2024.
Forecasts ranged widely from -0.2 percent to 0.5 percent, reflecting the uncertainty from Trump’s tariffs on auto exports, threatening South Korea’s car shipments to the US, a key component of its overall trade.
If the forecasts hold, it would mark the longest stretch of near-flat growth in South Korea’s economy in decades. The Bank of Korea (BOK), in a report on April 17, warned the export-driven economy may have contracted in the first quarter of this year.
The GDP data is due to be released on April 24.
