Economic Bulletin | KDI 경제교육·정보센터

Economic Trends

Current Economic Trends

Services, retail sales, facility investment and construction investment rose in August while mining manufacturing declined. Employment continued to increase in September and consumer prices rose at a slower pace. Industrial production fell 0.3 percent month-on-month in August as services (up 1.5%, m-o-m and up 7.1%, y-o-y) rose but mining manufacturing (down 1.8%, m-o-m and up 1.0%, y-o-y) went down. Retail sales (up 4.3%, m-o-m and up 2.3%, y-o-y), facility investment (up 8.8%, m-o-m and up 11.8%, y-o-y) and construction investment (up 5.0%, m-o-m and up 7.5%, y-o-y) all climbed in August. Exports rose 2.8 percent year-on-year in September led by petroleum products and cars. Average daily exports increased 0.4 percent year-on-year to US $2.67 billion in September 2022 from US $2.66 billion in September 2021. The consumer sentiment index (CSI) rose 2.6 points month-on-month in September to 91.4. The business survey index (BSI) for all industries fell 3 points to 78, and the BSI outlook for October 2022 fell 3 points to 79. The cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index for August increased 0.5 points and the cyclical indicator of the leading composite index fell 0.2 points. The economy added 707,000 jobs year-on-year in September and the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points year-on-year to 2.4 percent. Consumer prices grew 5.6 percent year-on-year in September as petroleum prices remained steady. Core prices rose 4.5 percent. In September, Korean treasury yields rose, the won weakened, and stock prices declined due to concerns regarding major economies tightening monetary policies and volatility in the UK financial markets. Housing prices declined faster in September (down 0.29% down 0.49%, m-o-m), and prices of Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) also saw a faster decline (down 0.28% down 0.50%, m-o-m). The economy has continued to improve gradually due to recovery in employment and in-person service industries. However, amid continued high inflation and deteriorating economic sentiment due to external factors, there are concerns of economic slowdown such as a drag on export recovery in the future. Internationally, with global inflationary pressure continuously rising, financial market volatility and global economic downside risks grow due to major economies rapid interest rate increases, concerns about the expansion of the Russia-Ukraine war and Chinas lockdown measures. The government will make its utmost efforts to boost the private economy and strengthen risk management efforts, while also focusing on taming prices and stabilizing peoples livelihoods. It will also press ahead with improving the current account balance and implementing structural reforms. * For further details, please refer to the attached file

Nov 2022