© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Downtown Seoul is seen on a foggy day in Seoul March 4, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s economy contracted last year for 2022 for the first time in 2-1/2 years, as post-pandemic spending faded and global trade slowed, central bank estimates showed on Thursday.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 0.4% in the October-December period from the previous quarter, the Bank of Korea estimated, after a 0.3% gain in the July-September quarter. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected a fall of 0.3%.
South Korea’s economy contracted in the second quarter of 2020.
The fourth quarter of 2022 GDP was 1.4% higher than the previous year, compared to the annual gain of 3.1% seen in the third quarter and the 1.5% forecast in the poll.
