S.Korea's economic growth slows in 3rd quarter on faltering export

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's economic growth slowed in the third quarter as export faltered amid rising external uncertainties, central bank data showed Thursday.

Real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, grew 0.3 percent in the July-September quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.

The real GDP kept rising for the ninth successive quarter since the third quarter of 2020, but it was down from the quarter-over-quarter increase of 0.6 percent in the first quarter and 0.7 percent in the second quarter.

Private consumption and facility investment contributed to the GDP expansion, but the faltering export led to slower economic growth.

Net export dragged down the GDP growth by 1.8 percentage points in the third quarter, while private consumption and facility investment lifted the growth rate by 0.9 percentage points and 0.4 percentage points respectively.

The seasonally-adjusted export, which takes up about half of the export-driven economy, gained 1.0 percent in the third quarter from the prior quarter, lower than the import growth of 5.8 percent.

External uncertainties remained in the fourth quarter as interest rate hikes in major economies boosted worries about a global economic downturn.

For the first 20 days of October, the country's export dwindled 5.5 percent to 32.4 billion U.S. dollars compared to the same period of last year.

The country logged a trade deficit for the past six months through September.

Private consumption, another growth engine of the economy, climbed 1.9 percent in the third quarter on a quarterly basis, after expanding 2.9 percent in the second quarter.

Consumer spending was on the recovery track due to eased measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, but the growth slowed amid the still-high inflation and rapid interest rate hikes.

The country's central bank began to tighten its monetary policy stance in August last year, hiking the policy rate in eight steps from a record low of 0.5 percent to 3.0 percent.

Inflation expectations added 0.1 percentage points from a month earlier to 4.3 percent in October, after sliding from a record high of 4.7 percent in July to 4.3 percent in August and 4.2 percent in September.

The composite consumer sentiment index fell 2.6 points over the month to 88.8 in October.

Facility investment advanced 5.0 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier on solid demand for transport equipment and machinery.

Construction investment went up 0.4 percent in the third quarter amid higher demand for non-residential buildings, while fiscal spending rose 0.2 percent in the third quarter after expanding 0.7 percent in the previous quarter.

Real gross domestic income was reduced by 1.3 percent in the third quarter, after skidding by 1.1 percent in the second quarter on the back of higher energy import prices.

By industry, production among manufacturers shrank 1.0 percent in the third quarter from the prior quarter, keeping a downward trend for the second successive quarter.

Production in the agriculture, construction and services industries increased 5.5 percent, 1.8 percent and 0.7 percent respectively in the cited quarter.