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South Korea's economy grew at its fastest pace in more than five years in the first quarter, according to revised data from the Bank of Korea (BOK) released on Thursday. The real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.8 percent in the January-March period from the previous quarter, up 0.1 percentage point from an earlier estimate, marking the strongest quarterly expansion since the third quarter of 2020, when the economy grew 2.3 percent.

On a yearly basis, the economy expanded 3.8 percent in the first quarter, a sharp acceleration from the 1.6 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of last year. This annual growth rate was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2021, when the economy grew 4.5 percent year-on-year, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.

Coverage Comparison

The revision, which reflected updated statistics on facility investment and private consumption, was detailed consistently across multiple reports from Yonhap News Agency. All accounts highlighted strong exports and solid domestic demand as the primary drivers of the expansion, with one version specifically attributing the export surge to rising global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure boosting semiconductor sales.

The reports note that Asia's fourth-largest economy had contracted 0.1 percent on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025 due to sluggish manufacturing, making the first-quarter rebound particularly notable.

Key Claims

  • Exports advanced 5.9 percent from the previous quarter, supported by strong global demand for semiconductors, machinery, and automobiles. This was the highest increase since the third quarter of 2020, according to the BOK data cited by Yonhap.
  • Facility investment grew 6.6 percent, marking the strongest growth in four years. Construction investment also gained 1.4 percent.
  • Private consumption increased 0.6 percent, while government spending fell 0.4 percent, as detailed in the BOK's preliminary data.
  • Domestic demand and net exports contributed 0.7 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points, respectively, to the quarterly growth, according to the central bank.
  • Per capita gross national income (GNI) advanced 0.3 percent from a year earlier to US$36,963 last year, a figure reported in some of the coverage.

Perspectives

A BOK official, Kim Hwa-yong, director of the production, expenditure, and income division, explained during a press conference that the 0.1 percentage point gain in first-quarter GDP is projected to increase annual growth by 0.1 percentage point. He added that this change is expected to be reflected in the central bank's revised growth forecast due in August.

The central bank earlier revised up its 2026 growth estimate to 2.6 percent, citing solid exports driven by a "semiconductor super cycle." Other local and international institutions have also lifted their growth forecasts for South Korea, according to one of the Yonhap reports.

Analysts and observers quoted in the coverage suggest that government stimulus measures and robust export performance, particularly in the semiconductor sector, are expected to give the economy further momentum in 2026. However, the reports do not include independent commentary or dissenting views, as all cited information comes from the BOK and Yonhap's own reporting.