Economy - overview:
As one of the Four Tigers of East Asia, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy. Three decades ago GDP per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. Today its GDP per capita is roughly 20 times North Korea's and equal to the lesser economies of the European Union. This success through the late 1980s was achieved by a system of close government/business ties, including directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries, and a strong labor effort. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods and encouraged savings and investment over consumption. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-99 exposed longstanding weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios, massive foreign borrowing, and an undisciplined financial sector. Growth plunged by 6.6% in 1998, then strongly recovered to 10.8% in 1999 and 9.2% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that much-needed corporate and financial reforms had stalled. Led by consumer spending and exports, growth in 2002 was an impressive 6.2%, despite anemic global growth.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $931 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
6.2% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $19,400 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4.4%
industry: 41.6%
services: 54% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line:
4% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 24.8% (1998 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31.6 (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.8% (2002 est.)
Labor force:
22 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 69%, industry 21.5%, agriculture 9.5% (2001)
Unemployment rate:
3.1% (2002 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $118.1 billion
expenditures: $95.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $22.6 billion (2000)
Industries:
electronics, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing
Industrial production growth rate:
6.5% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
290.7 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 62.4%
hydro: 0.8%
other: 0.2% (2001)
nuclear: 36.6%
Electricity - consumption:
270.3 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
2.14 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
804,700 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
2.965 million bbl/day (2001)
Agriculture - products:
rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish
Exports:
$162.6 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
electronic products, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, steel, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish
Exports - partners:
US 20.2%, China 14.6%, Japan 9.3%, Hong Kong 6.2%, Taiwan 4.1% (2002)
Imports:
$148.4 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains
Imports - partners:
Japan 19.5%, US 14.9%, China 10.9%, Saudi Arabia 5.0%, Australia 3.9% (2002)
Debt - external:
$135.2 billion (2001)
Currency:
South Korean won (KRW)
Currency code:
KRW
Exchange rates:
South Korean won per US dollar - 1,251.09 (2002), 1,290.99 (2001), 1,130.96 (2000), 1,188.82 (1999), 1,401.44 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
NOTE: The information regarding Korea, South on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Korea, South Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
