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Economic Bulletin Economic Bulletin, February 2025 February 03, 2025

Economic Bulletin

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Economic Bulletin, February 2025
February. 03. 2025
Summary
In November, retail sales increased while industrial production, services production, facilities investment, and construction investment decreased from the previous month. In December, job growth decreased and consumer prices continued to moderate.

In November, total production fell (down 0.4% m-o-m and down 0.3% y-o-y) , as industrial production (down 0.7% m-o-m and up 0.1% y-o-y) , services production (down 0.2% m-o-m and up 1.0% y-o-y), construction production (down 0.2% and down 12.9% y-o-y) declined.

In November, retail sales (up 0.4% m-o-m and down 1.9% y-o-y) rose, while facilities investment (down 1.6% m-o-m and up 2.6% y-o-y) and construction investment (down 0.2% m-o-m and down 12.9% y-o-y) decreased.

In December, exports increased by 6.6 percent from a year ago, driven by stronger exports in the IT products including semiconductor.

In December, the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) decreased by 12.3 points to 88.4 month-on-month. The Composite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) moved down by 4.5 points to 87.0 in December, while the CBSI outlook for January 2025 fell by 7.3 points to 82.4.

In November, the cyclical indicator of the coincident composite index fell by 0.5 points, while the cyclical indicator of the leading composite index rose by 0.1 point.

In December, the employment decreased by 52,000 jobs compared to the previous year and the unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percentage point from a year ago to 3.8 percent.

In December, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew by 1.9 percent year-on-year. The index when excluding food and energy prices increased by 1.8 percent, and 1.8 percent when excluding agricultural and petroleum products. The CPI for basic necessities rose by 2.2 percent.

In December, Korean equity prices were down and yields for Korean Treasury Bond were up, and the Korean Won weakened against the dollar.

In December, housing prices turned to fall (down 0.07% m-o-m) and Jeonse (lump-sum deposits with no monthly payments) prices moderated (up 0.01% m-o-m).

Recently, the Korean economy has experienced a slowdown in employment and rising downward pressure on growth as the expansion of domestic and external uncertainties has dampened economic sentiment.

The global economy is showing an overall recovery, but amid ongoing geopolitical risks, factors such as potential changes in trade environments are increasing uncertainties.

With the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Affairs serving as the control tower, relevant government agencies would work in coordination to swiftly implement the 2025 Economic Policy Directions, aiming to manage the economy as stably as possible.
Contents
■ Current Economic Trends
 Overview
 Economic Activity
  1. Gross Domestic Product
  2. Industrial output and composite index of business indicators
  3. Private consumption
  4. Facility investment
  5. Construction investment
  6. Exports and imports
  7. Employment
  8. Prices
  9. Housing market
 Financial Markets
  1. Stock market
  2. Bond market
  3. Foreign exchange market
  4. Money market
  5. Official foreign reserves
  6. External debt
 Public Finance
  1. Fiscal balance
  2. National debt

■ Policy Issue
 2025 Economic Policies

■ Economic News Briefing
  1. Korea’s GDP Increased by 2.0 % in 2024 (Advance Estimate)
  2. Bank of Korea Maintains Benchmark Interest Rate at 3.00%
  3. Korea’s inbound FDI Totals US $34.6 billion in 2024
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