This Year Korea's GDP Likely to Return to 10th Place Worldwide After 2 Years

IMF 'World Economic Outlook' Report, South Korea's GDP at 1,766 Trillion Won
Relatively Less Impacted by COVID-19 Economic Contraction

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that South Korea's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will rank 10th in the world this year.

According to the IMF's "World Economic Outlook" report released on the 15th, South Korea's GDP is expected to reach $1.5868 trillion (approximately 1,766 trillion KRW) this year, ranking 10th globally. This marks a rise of two places from 12th last year. The most recent time South Korea's GDP was in the top 10 was in 2018, when it ranked 10th.

Brazil and Russia, which ranked ahead of South Korea last year, are expected to rank 12th and 11th respectively this year.

Previously, South Korea also ranked 10th consecutively in 2004 and 2005, but had fallen out of the top 10 until 2018.

South Korea's return to 10th place this year is attributed to being relatively less affected by the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IMF projected the global economic growth rate for this year at -4.4% in its economic outlook report.

By country, most nations are expected to experience negative growth, including India (-10.3%), France (-9.8%), Germany (-6.0%), Italy (-10.6%), Spain (-12.8%), Japan (-5.3%), the United States (-4.3%), Russia (-4.1%), Brazil (-5.8%), Mexico (-9.0%), Saudi Arabia (-5.4%), and South Africa (-8.0%).

South Korea's growth rate (-1.9%) is also expected to be negative, but it is relatively better compared to major countries, except for China, which is forecasted to have positive growth (1.9%).

The IMF also projected that South Korea's GDP will maintain its 10th place next year at $1.6741 trillion (approximately 1,864 trillion KRW).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.