Economic Bulletin | KDI 경제교육·정보센터

KDI 경제교육·정보센터

Economic Information and Education Center

발행물

Economic Trends

Current Economic Trends

In September, services production, facilities investment, and construction investment increased,while industrial production and retail sales declined. In October, the number of employed personsincreased and consumer price rose at a faster pace. In September, total production went up (up 1.0% m-o-m and up 6.7% y-o-y), driven by increases in theconstruction sector (up 11.4% m-o-m and down 4.3% y-o-y) and services sector (up 1.8% m-o-m and up6.2% y-o-y), despite a decline in the industrial sector (down 1.2% m-o-m and up 11.6% y-o-y). In September, facilities investment increased (up 12.7% m-o-m and up 12.8% y-o-y), while retail salesdecreased (down 0.1% m-o-m and up 2.2% y-o-y). In October, exports grew by 3.6 percent year-on-year, supported by a strong performance in thesemiconductor industry. Average daily exports rose by 14.0 percent compared to the same month ofprevious year. In October, the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) fell by 0.3 points month-on-month to 109.8. TheComposite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) dropped by 1.0 points to 90.6 in October, and the CBSIoutlook for November rose by 2.6 points to 91.1. In September, the cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index rose by 0.2 points and the cyclicalindicator of the leading composite index climbed by 0.1 point. In October, the number of employed persons grew by 193,000 compared to the previous year and theunemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 2.2 percent from the previous year. In October, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed by 2.4 percent year-on-year, driven by agriculturalproducts and petroleum prices. The index when excluding food and energy prices grew by 2.2 percent froma year ago. In October, Korean equity prices climbed, Korean Treasury Bond yields rose, and the Korean Won weakenedagainst the dollar. In October, housing prices rose (up 0.29% m-o-m), and Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthlypayments) prices also rose (0.18% m-o-m). Recently, the Korean economy has shown signs of recovery, supported by improvements in domesticdemand particularly consumption and strong performance in the semiconductor sector,indicating an economic rebound from the weakness seen in the first half of the year. However, employment challenges persist, mainly in vulnerable sectors, and uncertainties remain owing tothe pace of recovery in construction investment and the impact of U.S. tariff measures. The global economy continues to face volatility in global financial markets and concerns over slowing tradeand growth, due in part to a deteriorating trade environment following tariff measures by major economies. The government plans to strengthen policy efforts, including boosting domestic demand, to ensure thatfuture growth momentum spreads across sectors, while making every effort to expand growth potentialthrough initiatives such as the AI Transformation, Ultra-Innovative Economy flagship projects, andProductive Finance. * For further details, please refer to the attached file.

Dec 2025