Country with 29% Economic Scale Rebound After Pandemic... South Korea at 5.9%

OECD Countries Average 5.1% Increase
Most Member States Recover Economic Scale
Ireland Hits Highest at 28.7%

Compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic (global outbreak of infectious disease), South Korea's economic size has grown by 5.9%. The country with the largest rebound was Ireland (28.7%).

South Korea's Rebound Rate in the Middle Range Among OECD Countries... Weaker Compared to the US, Which Surpassed Growth Rate

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the OECD on the 11th, as of the second quarter of this year, the real GDP of OECD member countries increased by 5.1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that most OECD member countries have shaken off the shock of the pandemic and recovered their previous economic size.

South Korea's real GDP as of the second quarter increased by 5.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

This growth rate ranks 16th among the 36 OECD member countries, excluding Luxembourg and New Zealand, whose second-quarter GDP data have not yet been updated. The growth rebound after the pandemic was in the middle range within the OECD.

In particular, compared to the United States, whose economic size grew by 6.1% compared to before the pandemic, South Korea's growth rebound was relatively weaker.

South Korea's annual growth rate has always exceeded that of the United States, the world's largest economy, except during the 1998 foreign exchange crisis (-5.1%). However, after both South Korea and the US recorded the same growth rate of 2.9% in 2018, the US surpassed South Korea in 2019 (2.3% vs. 2.2%), and South Korea has not been able to catch up with the US in the rebound after the pandemic.

Country with the Largest Growth Rebound is Ireland... Japan's Increase is Half of South Korea's

A supermarket in the UK struggling with high inflation.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among OECD member countries, the country with the largest growth rebound compared to before the pandemic was Ireland (28.7%), followed by T?rkiye (23.3%), Israel (16.6%), Costa Rica (11.3%), and Colombia (10.6%), all of which saw their economic sizes grow by more than 10%.

Chile (9.8%), Slovenia (9.5%), Denmark and Iceland (8.6%), Australia (8.0%), Greece (7.4%), Poland (7.2%), Lithuania (7.1%), and the Netherlands (6.2%) also experienced a larger rebound than South Korea.

Japan's economic size grew by 3.0% compared to before COVID-19, which is about half the increase of South Korea.

Western European economic powers such as Italy (2.1%), France (1.7%), Spain (0.4%), and Germany (0.2%) also showed slower recovery.

Only two countries, the Czech Republic (-1.0%) and the United Kingdom (-0.2%), have not yet recovered their economic size to pre-pandemic levels.

Spain, which was hit hardest by COVID-19, experienced a contraction of -11.3% in 2020 but has recovered to pre-pandemic levels as of the second quarter of this year.

The OECD stated, "As of the second quarter of this year, the OECD's GDP exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 5.1%, and the Group of Seven (G7) countries increased by 4.0%. Although the UK has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, all other member countries have surpassed their economic size at that time."

Meanwhile, the real GDP of OECD member countries did not recover to pre-pandemic levels until the first quarter of 2021 (-1.5%) but turned to a recovery trend thereafter.

Specifically, the real GDP growth rate compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 was 0.3% in the second quarter of 2021, 1.5% in the third quarter, 2.9% in the fourth quarter, followed by 3.0% in the first quarter of 2022, 3.5% in the second quarter, 4.0% in the third quarter, 4.3% in the fourth quarter, and then 4.7% in the first quarter and 5.1% in the second quarter of this year.

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