The South Korean economic rally continues as Thursday saw the release of a Reuters poll which showed that South Korea’s exports probably expanded for a third consecutive month in January. Boosting exports are strong chip sales and growing overseas demand.
Today’s positive economic news from the country with the fourth-highest GDP in Asia follows the strong South Korean GDP that beat forecasts announced earlier this week.
Overseas sales in January are seen as increasing 9.8% from the same time last year. Although this would be slower than the 12.6% increase recorded in December, last month’s figures represented the sharpest growth in exports in South Korea for more than two years.
South Korea on the Recovery Track
January’s figures also mean that South Korea is still very much on a recovery track that started in November last year.
Oh Suktae, economist at Societe Generale said of the latest data:
“Interim exports data showed that the two key semiconductor and auto sectors were pretty strong with double-digit growth. We also noticed the sustained strength of exports to the U.S. and EU despite the worsening of the pandemic in these two major economies”
Oh Suktae, economist at Societe Generale.
Meanwhile, Lloyd Chan, an economist at Oxford Economics commented on how economic conditions in South Korea will only improve once the vaccination has been rolled out there. He said:
“Vaccination is already underway in some of South Korea’s major trading partners, which will likely lead to a more sustained relaxation of social distancing measures. This should support a rebound in global trade this year, providing a tailwind for South Korean exports.”
Lloyd Chan, an economist at Oxford Economics
