200705

Page 1


Vol. 29 | No. 5

Republic of Korea

Economic Bulletin The Green Book : Current Economic Trends Overview

3

1. Global economy

4

2. Private consumption

8

3. Facility investment

12

4. Construction investment

14

5. Exports and imports (customs clearance basis)

16

6. Industrial activity

18

7. Service sector activity

20

8. Employment

22

9. Financial markets

24

9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4

Stock market Exchange rate Bond market Money supply & money market

10. Balance of payments

28

11. Prices and international commodity prices

30

11.1 Prices 11.2 International oil and commodity prices 12. Real estate market

34

12.1 Housing market 12.2 Land market 13. Composite indexes of business cycle indicators

Policy Issues

38

40

Korea, European Union kick off FTA talks

Economic News Briefing

45

Statistical Appendices

51



The Green Book Current Economic Trends

Overview The recent Korean economy continued growth mostly in line with the forecast of lower growth in the first half and higher in the second. In specific, domestic demand indicators such as consumption and investment gradually improved while exports maintaining double digit growth. The first quarter private consumption (preliminary) grew 4.0 percent year-on-year led by durable goods including automobiles. Facility investment jumped 10.3 percent in the first quarter on the back of robust investment in machinery. Construction investment growth expanded. Exports (customs clearance basis, current) maintained double digit growth on solid demand from Japan, the Eurozone and China. However, current account posted a deficit in March due to seasonal factors such as dividend payment in December. Manufacturing production was slightly modest affected by inventory adjustment in semiconductor industry and output cut by the audio and video and telecommunications industries. However, services and construction indicated good performance. Industrial activity overall moderately picked up. Jobs growth has continued to expand since the beginning of the year driven by robust services. Consumer prices continuously stabilized due to stable prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products, despite a public transportation fare increase in the Seoul metropolitan area. The Korean economy in 2007 is expected to expand a mid 4 percent provided external conditions do not deteriorate sharply amid a trend of lower growth in the first half and higher in the second. The government will focus on macroeconomic and fine-tuning measures. In specific, it will closely examine domestic demand trend to support growth mostly in line with potential. The government will continue its endeavor to expand growth engines by improving the business environment and strengthening competitiveness of the service industry. The government will also enhance efforts to compensate the sluggish construction investment in the private sector.

Economic Bulletin

3


1. Global economy The global economy maintained solid growth on the back of growth in Japan, the eurozone and China, despite further moderation of the US economic growth rate. However, downside risks exist such as continuing moderation of the US economy, Chinese additional tightening measures and a probability of interest rate rise in the eurozone.

US

The US economy in the first quarter hovered below its growth potential for four consecutive months, posting GDP growth (preliminary) of 1.3 percent, the lowest in four years. The lower than expected (1.7-1.8%) growth was attributable to continuing sluggishness of the housing market and high comparison base of exports set in the previous quarter. Exports grew 10.6 percent in the previous quarter and declined 1.2 percent in the first quarter. Business investment reversed its course to post a growth, indicating a sign of economic recovery. Consumer spending moderated from the previous quarter, but is assessed to continue upward trend. The core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) deflator index grew 2.2 percent due to increase in services fee and strong international raw material prices. Accordingly, an interest rate cut is not likely. (Percentage change from previous period) 2006

Real GDP

1

2007

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Feb

Mar

3.4

5.6

2.6

2.0

2.5

1.3

-

-

- Personal consumption expenditure

3.2

4.8

2.6

2.8

4.2

3.8

-

-

- Corporate fixed investment

7.4

13.7

4.4

10.0

-3.1

2.0

-

-

- Construction investment for housing

-4.2

-0.3

-11.1

-18.7

-19.8

-17.0

-

-

Industrial production

4.0

5.0

6.5

4.0

-1.2

2.6

0.8

-0.2

Retail sales

6.3

3.2

0.7

0.9

0.2

1.4

0.5

0.7

New non-farm payroll employment (q-o-q, thousand)

2,263

755

371

606

531

455

113

180

New home sales

-17.6

-13.3

-1.0

-8.4

-1.6

-13.7

-4.2

2.6

2.5

2.1

2.5

2.8

2.6

2.6

2.7

2.5

Core consumer prices (y-o-y, %) 1. Annualized rate

4

May 2007


1-1

US GDP (q-o-q, annualized rate) Source: US Department of Commerce

1-2

US non-farm payroll employment (m-o-m change) Source: US Department of Labor

1-3

US federal funds rate and consumer prices Source: US Federal Reserve Board & Department of Labor

Economic Bulletin

5


China

The Chinese economy achieved a high growth of 11.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter on the back of expansion in net exports and retail sales as well as robust investment in fixed asset investment. The People’s Bank of China raised the reserve requirements of banks twice in April to 11.0 percent due to excessive liquidity and accelerating consumer prices. (Percentage change from same period in previous period) 2006

2007

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Feb

Mar

Real GDP

10.7

10.3

11.3

10.4

10.4

11.1

-

-

Fixed asset investment (accumulated)

24.5

29.8

31.3

28.2

24.5

25.3

23.4

25.3

Retail sales

13.7

12.8

13.9

13.8

14.3

14.9

16.9

15.3

Industrial production

16.6

16.7

18.0

16.2

14.8

18.3

12.6

17.6

Exports

27.2

26.6

24.1

28.7

29.1

27.8

51.7

6.9

Consumer prices

1.5

1.2

1.3

1.3

2.0

2.7

2.7

3.3

Japan

Amid still weak private consumption increase, core consumer prices (excluding fresh food) in March declined for two consecutive months due to stabilizing international oil prices. A concern on returning to deflation was raised accordingly. (Percentage change from previous period) 2006 Annual

Q1

Q2

2007 Q3

Q4

Q1

Feb

Mar

Real GDP

2.2

0.7

0.3

0.1

1.3

-

-

-

Industrial production

4.8

0.4

1.3

1.4

2.0

1.3

0.7

-0.6

Retail sales

0.2

2.0

-0.8

-0.8

-0.7

1.9

-0.9

-0.7

Exports (y-o-y, %)

14.6

17.6

14.7

15.6

11.2

12.5

9.7

10.2

Core consumer prices (y-o-y, %)

0.1

-0.0

0.0

0.2

0.1

0.1

-0.1

-0.3

Eurozone

Amid continued economic expansion and relatively stable prices, the European Central Bank kept its key interest rate intact at 3.75 percent on April 12. Despite the strong euro, robust exports continued. The exchange rate of the euro against the US dollar hit a record 1.3682 dollar intraday on April 27, which was the highest since December 2004. (Percentage change from previous period) 2005

2006

2007

Annual

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Jan

Feb

Mar

Real GDP

1.4

2.6

0.8

1.0

0.5

0.9

-

-

-

Industrial production

1.3

3.8

1.0

1.3

1.0

0.5

-0.5

0.6

-

Retail sales

1.4

1.6

0.1

0.5

0.8

0.6

-0.8

0.3

-

Exports (y-o-y, %)

7.7

11.2

15.8

9.4

8.0

11.6

11.8

10.3

-

Consumer prices (y-o-y, %)

2.2

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.2

1.8

1.8

1.8

1.9

6

May 2007


1-4

China’s GDP and fixed asset investment Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China

1-5

Japan's GDP growth Source: Cabinet Office & Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan

1-6

Eurozone GDP growth and industrial production Source: Eurostat

Economic Bulletin

7


2. Private consumption The pace of private consumption growth slightly expanded in the first quarter of 2007 (preliminary GDP), recovering 4 percent range growth rate. It expanded 4.0 percent year-onyear, or 1.3 percent from the previous quarter.

Private consumption (y-o-y, %): 5.2 (Q1 2006)

4.1 (Q2)

(SA*, q-o-q, %): 1.2 (Q1 2006) * SA: seasonally adjusted

4.0 (Q3)

0.6 (Q2)

3.7 (Q4)

0.9 (Q3)

4.0 (Q1 2007)

1.0 (Q4)

1.3 (Q1 2007)

Consumer goods sales in March rose 7.3 percent year-on-year albeit slightly moderated from the previous month when the Lunar New year holidays had greatly contributed to the rising sales. Durable goods sales led by air-conditioners and computers were robust while semidurable goods and non-durable goods sales growth slightly reduced. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2005

2006

Annual Annual

2007

Mar

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q11

Jan

Feb1

Mar1

Consumer goods sales

4.1

4.7

5.3

5.3

6.1

2.9

4.5

7.2

2.7

12.1

7.3

(Seasonally adjusted)

-

-

1.7

0.0

1.9

-0.2

3.0

2.6

0.4

2.2

-0.3

6.5

11.0

11.7

11.5

11.3

11.4

9.6

17.0

21.2

12.3

17.5

- Durable goods

2

3

9.5

8.1

21.6

22.6

8.1

4.2

1.3

9.8

17.0

5.5

7.6

- Semi-durable goods4

Automobiles

7.9

5.1

6.4

7.4

6.7

2.9

3.6

6.2

5.2

7.1

6.5

- Non-durable goods

1.2

1.1

1.4

1.2

3.0

-1.7

2.0

2.4

-7.3

14.6

1.8

5

1. Preliminary 2. Percentage change from previous period 3. Durable goods (25.4%): Automobiles, electronic appliances, furniture, telecommunications devices, etc. 4. Semi-durable goods (24.0%): Clothing, footwear, etc. 5. Non-durable goods (50.5%): Food, medicine, cosmetics, fuel, tobaccos, etc.

Sales growth moderated led by large discount stores. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2005

2006

Annual Annual

Mar

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Jan

Feb1

Mar1

- Department stores

3.1

3.7

7.5

8.3

6.0

0.4

0.7

-2.5

-7.8

0.9

0.1

- Large discount stores

8.3

8.8

8.6

7.3

10.1

6.4

11.6

10.2

-8.5

31.1

12.8

- Other retail stores

1.3

0.6

-2.1

-1.4

-1.8

0.4

1.7

2.2

-0.8

5.4

2.4

1. Preliminary

8

2007 1

May 2007


2-1

Private consumption Source: The Bank of Korea (national accounts)

2-2

Consumer goods sales Source: Korea National Statistical Office (industrial activity trend)

2-3

Consumer goods sales by type Source: Korea National Statistical Office (industrial activity trend)

Economic Bulletin

9


Preliminary consumption indicators in April appear to be in good shape overall, in spite of indicating slight moderation with the holiday effects disappearing. Growth in the value of credit card use slightly rose while sales in department and discount stores reversing course to post a decrease. Domestic sales of home-manufactured automobiles in April 2007 continued to increase on the back of new car launch. Value of credit card use (y-o-y, %) 10.0 (Dec 2006)

11.5 (Jan 2007)

16.5 (Feb)

12.1 (Mar)

14.9 (Apr 1~15)

Source: The Credit Finance Association

Department store sales (y-o-y, %) 1.0 (Dec 2006)

-6.2 (Jan 2007)

4.7 (Feb)

3.1 (Mar)

-2.1 (Apr 1~15)

Discount store sales (y-o-y, %) 1.8 (Dec 2006)

-19.5 (Jan 2007)

25.3 (Feb)

3.6 (Mar)

-2.9 (Apr 1~15)

Source: Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry of Finance and Economy (April 2007, monitoring results on current sales volume basis)

Domestic sales of home-manufactured automobiles (thousand units): 122 (Dec 2006) (y-o-y, %): -4.9 (Dec 2006)

95 (Jan 2007)

13.6 (Jan 2007)

90 (Feb)

0.9 (Feb)

106 (Mar) 4.4 (Mar)

35 (Apr 1~15)

6.0 (Apr 1~15)

The recent improvement in consumption sentiment and real income growth expansion signal a recovery in private consumption. March consumer expectations index slightly moderated from the previous month, but the upward trend since the second half of the previous year is assessed to have continued. Gross National Income (GNI) growth neared the GDP growth. Consumer expectations index (base=100) 97.4 (Jun 2006) 98.1 (Feb)

94.3 (Jul)

93.7 (Aug)

94.8 (Sep)

93.9 (Oct)

95.2 (Nov)

93.7 (Dec)

96.1 (Jan 2007)

97.8 (Mar)

Source: Korea National Statistical Office

Consumer sentiment index (base=100) 101 (Q2 2006)

96 (Q3)

98 (Q4)

103 (Q1 2007)

2.4 (Q3)

3.3 (Q4)

Source: The Bank of Korea

Real GNI (y-o-y, %) 1.6 (Q1 2006)

1.7 (Q2)

3.4* (Q1 2007)

*GNI for the first quarter of 2007 has not been released yet, therefore GDI was used.

Real GDP (y-o-y, %) 6.3 (Q1 2006)

5.1 (Q2)

4.8 (Q3)

4.0 (Q4)

4.0 (Q1 2007)

Maintaining the trend growth of private consumption is dependent on the future trend of income and employment conditions. Changes in number of employed (y-o-y, thousand) 331 (Q1 2006)

283 (Q2)

288 (Q3)

278 (Q4)

Real household income growth (nationwide, %) 1.9 (Q1 2006)

10

May 2007

2.4 (Q2)

1.1 (Q3)

5.4 (Q4)

264 (Q1 2007)


2-4

Department store and discount store sales (current value) Source: Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (monthly retail sales)

2-5

Domestic automobile sales Source: Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (monthly automobile industry trend)

2-6

Consumer expectations index and present situation index Source: Korea National Statistical Office (monthly consumer survey index)

Economic Bulletin

11


3. Facility investment Facility investment in the first quarter of 2007 (preliminary GDP) expanded 10.3 percent yearon-year or 4.0 percent from the previous quarter on the back of domestic demand recovery. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2005

Facility investment

2

(Seasonally adjusted)

3

- Machinery - Transportation equipment 1. Preliminary

2. National accounts

20071

20061

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Annual

Q1

3.8

3.1

5.0

10.8

5.7

7.0

7.2

11.1

5.3

7.6

10.3

2.1

2.0

1.0

5.2

-

-1.0

2.2

3.8

0.1

-

4.0

8.1

6.2

5.3

9.8

7.4

3.3

9.5

12.4

6.5

7.9

-

-13.8

-9.4

3.4

15.9

-1.8

25.9

-3.5

4.8

-0.2

5.9

-

3. Percentage change from previous period

Facility investment in March (estimated index) posted an on-year growth of 6.4 percent led by robust investment in special industrial machinery and office machinery, albeit moderated from the previous month. Domestic machinery shipments slowed to post a 3.3 percent growth year-on-year. Leading indicators such as machinery orders and imports moderated during March, but the first quarter growth indicates a continuing upward trend from the last year. Domestic machinery orders (current value) in March posted an on-year 5.1 percent growth, slowing from the previous month due to the public sector’s reversing course to post a decrease and moderation in the private sector. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2005

2006

Annual Annual Estimated facility investment2 - Domestic machinery shipments Domestic machinery orders - Public - Private 1. Preliminary

2007

Mar

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q11

Jan

Feb1

Mar1

6.3

7.4

11.7

6.2

6.7

11.8

5.1

11.2

15.4

12.8

6.4

0.6

4.7

2.9

4.8

3.2

4.0

6.7

6.6

10.4

6.8

3.3

5.7

18.8

3.9

13.6

24.4

21.0

16.7

15.2

26.0

16.3

5.1

-1.3

7.1

-58.2

-31.1

24.7

19.0

22.1

14.8

22.1

33.3

-5.8

6.7

20.4

20.5

20.2

24.4

21.3

15.8

15.2

26.3

15.0

6.1

2. Industrial activity

Machinery imports (%) 13.7 (Nov 2006)

12.3 (Dec)

35.0 (Jan 2007)

13.3 (Feb)

16.0 (Mar)

48.5 (Apr 1~20)

The Business Survey Index (BSI) for facility investment result and prospect in the manufacturing sector compiled by the Bank of Korea slightly expanded from the previous month.

Business Survey Indexes (base=100)

2007 Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Manufacturing facility investment result

96

96

97

99

-

Manufacturing facility investment prospect

99

98

97

97

101

Source: The Bank of Korea

12

May 2007


3-1

Facility investment by type Source: The Bank of Korea (national accounts)

3-2

Machinery orders and estimated facility investment (3-month average) Source: Korea National Statistical Office (industrial activity trend)

3-3

Machinery imports Source: Korea International Trade Association (KITA)

Economic Bulletin

13


4. Construction investment Construction investment in the first quarter of 2007 (preliminary GDP) increased 4.3 percent year-on-year, or 1.2 percent from the previous month, expanding growth for the second consecutive month. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2005

Construction investment (Seasonally adjusted)

2

3

20061

20071

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Annual

Q1

-3.3

1.1

-0.1

0.4

-0.2

0.2

-5.0

-0.1

3.2

-0.4

4.3

0.2

4.4

-2.6

-1.3

-

0.0

-0.9

2.0

1.9

-

1.2

- Building construction

-7.4

0.4

-0.7

1.1

-1.4

1.1

-5.9

-2.4

-0.2

-2.0

-

- Civil engineering works

5.6

2.1

0.7

-0.5

1.5

-1.4

-3.9

3.4

7.4

2.0

-

1. Preliminary

2. National accounts

3. Percentage change from previous period

Construction completed (current value) in March moderated to post an on-year 2.0 percent growth due to decelerating growth of the public sector and the negative growth in the private sector. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2005

2006

Annual Annual

Mar

Q1

2007 Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

1

Jan

Feb1

Mar1

4.1

3.7

4.3

4.2

-0.3

4.8

6.0

6.5

10.5

8.3

2.0

- Public

-3.7

1.9

-9.6

-11.7

-5.8

9.0

12.6

18.3

14.1

25.9

16.0

- Private

7.5

4.9

10.5

11.0

2.2

3.8

4.0

2.1

9.3

2.3

-3.6

Construction completed2

1. Preliminary

2. Industrial activity

Leading indicators including construction orders continued a healthy increase since the third quarter of 2006. Construction orders in March increased 32.0 percent due to a jump in the public sector. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2005

2006

Annual Annual Construction orders

2

Building construction permit area 1. Preliminary

2007

Mar

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q11

Jan

Feb1

Mar1

7.3

9.0

-34.1

-8.5

-14.7

37.1

27.1

26.3

9.7

40.1

32.0

-5.1

19.5

75.0

13.0

7.4

75.0

-2.8

-

-

-

-

2. Current value basis

The construction sector is expected to reverse course to post growth derailing from the decreasing trend due to the low comparison base set in the previous year. However, improvement in large scale seems unlikely.

14

May 2007


4-1

Construction investment Source: The Bank of Korea (national accounts)

4-2

Construction completed and housing construction Source: Korea National Statistical Office (construction completed) Ministry of Construction and Transportation (housing construction)

4-3

Leading indicators of construction investment Source: Korea National Statistical Office (construction orders) Ministry of Construction and Transportation (building construction permit area)

Economic Bulletin

15


5. Exports and imports (customs clearance basis) Exports in April registered a 17.8 percent growth with US$30.15 billion on the back of increase in days operated by more than 0.5 days and a surge in automobile exports. By export category (estimated, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy), automobile achieved a high growth due to low comparison base and diversification of export destinations. Steel and semiconductors continued robustness. (US$ billion) 2006

Exports (y-o-y, %)

2007

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jan-Apr

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jan-Apr

23.79

26.84

25.59

99.48

26.24

30.49

30.15

114.97

16.6

12.1

11.9

10.9

10.5

14.6

17.8

15.6

Average daily exports

1.08

1.12

1.15

1.10

1.28

1.30

1.31

1.26

Imports

23.51

25.95

24.49

97.03

25.29

29.06

29.35

111.38

27.8

13.9

15.3

18.5

7.3

12.0

19.9

14.8

1.07

1.08

11.5

11.0

12.3

12.4

12.8

12.2

(y-o-y, %) Average daily exports

April imports rose 19.9 percent to US$29.35 billion. Raw materials, capital goods and consumer goods imports all grew evenly on the back of facility investment recovery, exchange rate fall and consumer sentiment improvement. Raw materials (%) 18.1 (Dec 2006)

17.9 (Jan 2007)

4.5 (Feb)

13.8 (Mar)

15.8 (Apr 1-20)

Capital goods (%) 7.0 (Dec 2006)

22.2 (Jan 2007)

6.5 (Feb)

8.1 (Mar)

25.4 (Apr 1-20)

Consumer goods (%) 15.1 (Dec 2006)

32.5 (Jan 2007)

29.3 (Feb)

16.1 (Mar)

19.3 (Apr 1-20)

Trade surplus in April narrowed US$0.63 billion from the previous month to US$0.8 billion driven by swifter growth pace of imports compared to exports. (US$ billion) 2006

Trade balance

2007

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jan~Apr

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jan~Apr

0.28

0.9

1.1

3.47

1.04

1.43

0.8

3.59

Exports may slow down in May and beyond given the moderation in OECD Composite Leading Indicators and drop in semiconductor prices. Meantime, imports are likely to expand slightly on the facility investment recovery and consumer sentiment improvement.

16

May 2007


5-1

Exports (customs clearance basis) Source: Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (export and import trend)

5-2

Imports (customs clearance basis) Source: Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (export and import trend)

5-3

Trade balance Source: Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (export and import trend)

Economic Bulletin

17


6. Industrial activity March industrial production expanded 3.1 percent year-on-year due mainly to high comparison base of 10.7 percent set last year and inventory adjustments in semiconductors. By sector, audiovisual telecommunications continued sluggishness (down 15.9%). However, automobile output reversed course to post an increase (-6.3% in February to 2.1% in March). Semiconductor production growth also expanded (6.6% in February to 10.6% in March). Industrial output growth in the first quarter remained at 3.3 percent year-on-year, which is slightly lower compared with 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006. Shipment for domestic demand rose 1.5 percent in March as irregular factors including the Lunar New year’s holidays disappeared. Shipment for exports expanded 9.1 percent while inventory growth moderated to 6.0 percent. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2006 Annual Production (q-o-q)

Mar

2007 Q1

Jan

Feb

1

Mar1

Q11

-

1.3

3.8

1.3

0.3

-0.4

-0.6

(y-o-y)

10.1

10.7

12.8

7.5

-0.6

3.1

3.3

(days operated reflected)

10.6

11.6

11.1

1.5

6.7

4.3

4.1

- Manufacturing

10.5

11.2

13.4

7.6

-0.5

3.0

3.4

Shipment

7.8

7.5

9.7

7.0

1.2

4.9

4.4

- Domestic demand

4.5

5.9

7.1

6.9

-0.8

1.5

2.5

- Exports

11.9

9.6

13.1

7.2

3.6

9.1

6.7

Inventory

6.2

3.8

3.8

10.9

8.6

6.0

6.0

Average operation ratio (%)

81.1

81.3

81.8

81.4

82.0

81.4

81.6

Production capacity

3.4

4.6

4.6

1.6

1.6

1.5

1.5

1. Preliminary

Industrial activity in April is forecast to maintain upward trend due to improvements in domestic demand including consumption as well as robust exports, despite downside factors such as high comparison base of 12.2 percent in the previous year.

18

May 2007


6-1

Industrial production Source: Korea National Statistical Office (industrial activity trend)

6-2

Average manufacturing operation ratio Source: Korea National Statistical Office (industrial activity trend)

6-3

Inventory Source: Korea National Statistical Office (industrial activity trend)

Economic Bulletin

19


7. Service sector activity Service activity in March grew 4.8 percent from a year earlier, maintaining the current upward trend since the fourth quarter of last year. When seasonally adjusted, the service output decreased 1.2 percent from the previous month. Financial and insurance services (up 10.6%) and entertainment, cultural and sports services (up 9.6%) led the service output increase in March. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) Weight

2006

2005 Annual Annual

Q1

Q2

2007 Q3

Q4

Q1

1

Jan

Feb1

Mar1 Contribution2 3.0 0.83

Wholesale & retail

27.6

2.1

4.0

3.7

4.2

4.3

3.7

4.8

4.9

6.9

Hotels & restaurants

7.7

0.3

2.1

3.9

2.4

2.3

-0.2

1.7

5.2

-2.2

1.8

0.14

Transportation services

8.8

4.2

6.3

6.4

6.3

5.9

6.9

6.7

7.7

8.4

4.2

0.37

Communication services

5.8

4.1

2.8

2.3

2.9

3.2

2.6

3.1

4.3

3.2

2.0

0.12

Financial & insurance services

17.6

7.3

7.9

13.2

9.2

4.9

4.8

8.6

7.0

8.3

10.6

1.87

Real estate & renting

5.4

8.5

10.2

10.5

8.2

7.4

14.3

5.9

8.3

7.1

2.5

0.13

Business services

8.5

2.8

5.9

5.6

5.7

5.7

6.4

5.3

5.0

6.1

5.0

0.42

Educational services

8.6

0.7

2.3

1.4

2.5

1.4

4.4

2.9

-3.9

9.8

3.8

0.33

Healthcare & social welfare services

4.0

7.3

10.0

11.1

8.1

11.9

8.9

9.6

9.3

14.6

5.2

0.21

Entertainment, cultural and sports services

3.5

3.0

2.5

4.9

2.7

-0.9

3.7

5.7

3.6

3.4

9.6

0.34

Other public & personal services

2.6

1.9

3.8

4.7

4.1

3.9

2.5

1.9

2.4

1.7

1.7

0.05

1. Preliminary 2. Contribution to March 2007 growth (%p). Most industries contributed evenly to the total sector growth of 4.8 percent in March with financial and insurance services (1.87%p), wholesale and retail sales (0.83%p) and business services (0.42%p) leading the increase.

Service activity is expected to have continued its upward trend in April, although its growth pace may have been adjusted slightly. Financial and insurance services, which account for 17.6 percent of the service sector, are forecast to have gotten a boost on the back of favorable conditions in stock market such as increase in trading value. However, upward trend for other service businesses including wholesale and retail sales may have slowed given recent rise in oil prices and weaker consumption indicators.

KOSPI (monthly average) 1,419 (Dec 2006)

1,379 (Jan 2007)

1,435 (Feb)

1,432 (Mar)

1,517 (Apr)

Stock trading value (trillion won) 88 (Dec 2006)

96 (Jan 2007)

98 (Feb)

109 (Mar)

138 (Apr)

Oil prices (Dubai crude, US$/barrel) 58.8 (Dec 2006)

51.8 (Jan 2007)

55.9 (Feb)

58.9 (Mar)

64.0 (Apr)

Department store sales (y-o-y, %) 1.0 (Dec 2006)

-6.2 (Jan 2007)

4.7 (Feb)

3.1 (Mar)

-2.1 (Apr 1~15)

Discount store sales (y-o-y, %) 1.8 (Dec 2006) -19.5 (Jan 2007) 25.3 (Feb) 3.6 (Mar) Source: Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy

-2.9 (Apr 1~15)

Ministry of Finance and Economy (April 2007, monitoring results on current sales volume basis)

20

May 2007


7-1

Service industry Source: Korea National Statistical Office (service industry activity trend)

7-2

Wholesale and retail sales Source: Korea National Statistical Office (service industry activity trend)

Mar 2007 service industry by business

serv ices Hea l t h serv care ices & s ocia l we lfar e Ente spo rtainm rts s en ervi t, cu ces ltura l& Oth & p er pub erso lic, nal repa serv ir ices

Edu cati ona l

Com mun icat ion serv ices Fina serv ncial & ices insu ranc e Rea l es tate & re ntin g Bus ines s se rvic es

Tran spo rtat ion

rest aura nts Hot els &

Wh oles ale &

reta il

Source: Korea National Statistical Office (service industry activity trend)

Tota l ind ex

7-3

Economic Bulletin

21


8. Employment The number of workers on the payroll in March increased 273,000 from a year earlier, sustaining steady employment growth of 258,000 for January and 262,000 for February. Service sector employment posted the highest growth since August 2006, with an increase of 340,000 in March on the back of strong service activities in recent months led by business services. Hiring in manufacturing slipped 60,000 in March, slightly accelerating downward trend despite the strong export growth. Employment in construction expanded 44,000 led by robust growth in construction completed and favorable weather condition, having exceeded the 40,000 level for the forth consecutive month. However, the number of employment in agriculture, forestry and fisheries decreased 52,000 after falling 46,000 in the previous month, affected by the reduced participation in the economic activity by unpaid family workers (down 11,000). As for the type of employment, the increase was continually led by waged work (up 362,000) and full-time work (up 331,000). The employment rate rose 0.1 percentage points year-on-year to 59.2 percent, while the unemployment rate and the youth unemployment rate dropped 0.4 and 1.0 percentage points from a year earlier to 3.5 and 7.5 percent, respectively. (Change from same period in previous year, thousand) 2006

2007

Mar

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Dec

Annual

Jan

Feb

Mar

272

331

283

288

293

290

295

258

262

273

- Agriculture, forestry and fishery

-43

-34

-65

-28

-36

11

-31

-28

-46

-52

- Manufacturing

-95

-72

-77

-57

-77

-67

-67

-45

-45

-60

- Construction

47

34

7

13

-32

48

21

47

46

44

- Services

364

403

419

358

436

293

371

281

305

340

Employment growth

Unemployment rate (%)

3.9

3.9

3.4

3.3

3.2

3.3

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.5

Employment rate (%)

59.1

58.5

60.4

60.0

59.9

59.1

59.7

58.4

58.1

59.2

22

May 2007


8-1

Number of employed and employment growth Source: Korea National Statistical Office (employment trend)

8-2

Share of employed by industry Source: Korea National Statistical Office (employment trend)

8-3

Unemployment rate and number of unemployed Source: Korea National Statistical Office (employment trend)

Economic Bulletin

23


9. Financial markets 9.1 Stock market The Korean stock market had a bullish run in April driven by the following events: conclusion of the KORUS FTA, expectations over higher sovereign rating on improved North Korea-US relations, and a rally in the US and Chinese stock markets. The KOSPI surged in April driven by net buying by foreign investors to post the record high of 1,556.7 points on April 24. The index, however, fell slightly in the end of the month with adjustment after its sharp rise as well as concerns over China’s economic tightening policies. The KOSDAQ prolonged its solid gains until mid April. However, it went through a correction after the news of prosecutors’ investigations into stock price manipulation and profit-taking from sharp rise. In April, the net buying by foreign and individual investors amounted to 2,741.4 billion won and 10.4 billion won respectively, while net selling by institutional investors recorded 2,867.2 billion won. (End-period, point, trillion won) KOSPI

Stock price index Market capitalization

KOSDAQ

2006

Apr 2007

Change

1,434.5

1,542.2

704.6 3.4

Average daily trade value

2006

Apr 2007

Change1

107.7 (+7.5%)

606.2

675.9

69.7 (+11.5%)

757.3

52.7 (+7.5%)

72.1

84.1

12.0 (+16.6%)

3.4

0.0 (+0.0%)

1.7

2.0

0.3 (+17.6%)

1

1. Change from the end of previous year

9.2 Exchange rate The won/dollar exchange rate fell to the 930 won range as this was affected by two factors: (1) foreign investors’ net buying of domestic stocks; and (2) nonresidents’ selling of dollars. In April, the dollar’s value against the won is usually boosted by seasonal factors such as the demand for dollar by foreign investors to remit dividend. Nonetheless, the won/dollar exchange rate kept declining from early April to reach the 926 won range on April 23, with a fresh record high in stock prices and foreigners’ investment in domestic stocks. The exchange rate, however, bounced back to the 930 won range around the end of the month, undergoing a correction phase after the decline. (End-period) 2005

2006

2007

Dec

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Change1

Won/Dollar

1,011.6

929.8

941.0

941.8

940.9

930.8

-0.1

Yen/Dollar

117.8

118.7

121.4

118.2

117.6

119.5

-0.7

1. Appreciation from the end of previous year (%); the value of Korean won is based on closing price at 3:00 p.m.

24

May 2007


9-1

Stock prices

9-2

Foreign exchange rate (month-end)

9-3

Recent foreign exchange rate

Economic Bulletin

25


9.3 Bond market Bond yields such as Treasury bond yield rose in April due to massive selling of Treasury bond futures by foreign investors and a rise in US Treasury bond yields. The increase in bond yields accelerated toward the end of the month, due to expectations of the economic recovery and concerns over the government’s possible restriction on shortterm overseas borrowing by foreign bank branches in Korea. Yields on 91-day CDs, which are short-term interest rates, also climbed from the previous month. (End-period) 2004

2005

Dec

Dec

Sep

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Change1

3.29

3.76

4.48

4.60

4.61

4.55

4.63

4.88

+28

Call rate (1 day)

2006

2007

CD (91 day)

3.43

4.09

4.59

4.86

4.96

4.94

4.94

5.00

+14

Treasury bonds (3 yr)

3.28

5.08

4.57

4.92

5.02

4.86

4.76

5.05

+13

Corporate bonds (3 yr)

3.72

5.52

4.89

5.29

5.38

5.24

5.19

5.44

+15

Treasury bonds (5 yr)

3.39

5.36

4.61

5.00

5.03

4.88

4.80

5.06

+6

1. Basis point change from end December 2006

9.4 Money supply & money market The M2 growth in March decelerated slightly as the increase in private sector credit slowed from selling of securities held by banks. The M1 growth is estimated to have sharply declined as M1 no longer included MMFs held by individuals, which are redeemable on and after the next business day following the transaction date from March 2007. (Percentage change from same period in previous year, average) 2005

2006

2007

2007

Annual

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Jan

Feb

Mar

Feb1

M12

8.5

-0.9

-0.6

-2.8

-5.5

5.9

7.9

7.4

Mid -5

350.7

M2

6.9

8.3

7.0

7.2

8.1

10.9

11.3

11.5

Mid 11

1,154.1

3

7.0

7.9

7.2

7.4

7.5

9.2

9.8

9.9

Around 10

1,547.25

Lf

4

4

1. Amount, trillion won 2. Excludes corporate MMF and individual MMF from November 21, 2005 and March 22, 2007, respectively, as they are redeemable on and after the next business day following the transaction date from those periods each. 3. Liquidity aggregates of financial institutions (mostly identical with M3) 4. Preliminary 5. Estimates

In March, bank deposits accelerated the growth on the back of increased instant access accounts as corporate tax payments and settlements of loans carried forward to the next month due to the final day of March fallen on weekend. Asset management company (AMC) receipts continued solid growth led by newly launched funds and fund of funds, while equity funds also turned to positive territory with considerable growth from the previous month. (Monthly change, end-period, trillion won) 2006 Mar

Jun

Jul

2007

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Bank deposits

2.3

10.9

-7.2

4.3

13.6

-7.3

3.7

17.4

-8.3

4.6

6.9

AMC receipts

6.9

-11.7

0.3

-1.8

4.0

5.8

4.7

-0.8

3.4

0.4

3.4

26

May 2007


9-4

Interest rates Source: The Bank of Korea

9-5

Total money supply Source: The Bank of Korea

9-6

Share of deposits by financial sector (M3 as of year-end) Source: The Bank of Korea * Retail finance: Mutual savings banks & National Credit Union Federation of Korea, Others: Investment banks, post office savings, etc.

Economic Bulletin

27


10. Balance of payments Korea’s current account in March turned to red territory, recording a US$1.49 billion deficit from a US$490 million surplus in February due to seasonal factors such as dividend payments despite an increase in goods account surplus and a decrease in service account deficit. The goods account surplus widened to US$2.50 billion in March, up US$110 million from the previous month, continuously achieving double digit growth rate. The service account deficit narrowed by US$860 million month-on-month to post US$1.69 billion as the transportation account surplus increased and business services account deficit and payments for patent rights decreased, while the travel account deficit remained unchanged from the previous month. Due to seasonal factors such as external dividend payments by domestic firms with endDecember fiscal year, the income account in March reversed course to register a US$2.09 billion deficit from a US$850 million surplus in the previous month. Meantime, the seasonally adjusted current account posted a US$450 million deficit in March, which is US$1.04 billion less than the original data, as the income account deficit narrowed. Current account (SA*, US$ billion) 620 (Mar 2006) 600 (Dec) * Seasonally adjusted

-740 (Jan 2007)

630 (Feb)

-450 (Mar)

(US$ million) 2006

2007

Jan

Feb

Mar

Jan~Mar

Jan

Feb

Mar

Jan~Mar

90

-760

-430

-1,120

-430

490

-1,490

-1,520

- Goods balance

1,480

860

2,910

5,220

1,290

2,390

2,500

6,180

- Service balance

-1,640

-1,820

-1,540

-5,000

-1,940

-2,550

-1,690

-6,180

- Income balance

570

430

-1,470

-480

550

850

-2,090

-690

Current account

Despite a net outflow in portfolio investment balance, the capital account balance saw a net inflow of US$3.16 billion in March, mainly thanks to a surplus in other investment account. Capital & financial account balance (US$ billion) 790 (Mar 2006)

5,460 (Dec)

2,080 (Jan 2007)

-400 (Feb)

3,160 (Mar)

As for April, the current account balance is expected to post a deficit mainly due to scheduled external dividend payments and decreased export-import gap on customs clearance basis from US$1.43 billion in March to US$800 million in April.

28

May 2007


10-1 Current account balance Source: The Bank of Korea (balance of payments trend)

10-2 Travel balance Source: The Bank of Korea (balance of payments trend)

10-3 Capital & financial account balance Source: The Bank of Korea (balance of payments trend)

Economic Bulletin

29


11. Prices and international commodity prices 11.1 Prices Despite markup of public transportation fares in some regions including Seoul, consumer prices have stabilized with an on-year 2.5 percent rise in April.

Consumer price inflation 2007

2006 Apr

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Month-on-Month (%)

0.1

0.3

0.2

0.7

0.6

0.4

Year-on-Year (%)

2.0

2.1

1.7

2.2

2.2

2.5

The increase of consumer prices in April was driven by the hike in public service fees such as the subway and city bus fares in the Seoul metropolitan area, and higher prices of some manufacturing products including instant noodle and gold ring. Meantime, prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products were stable compared to the previous years as more vegetables and livestock products came out to market.

Consumer price inflation in major sectors Total

(Percentage change from same period in previous year)

Agricultural, livestock & fishery products

Industrial products

Oil products

Housing rents

Public utility

Personal services

Apr 2007 (Contribution ratio, %p)

2.5

1.7 (0.15)

1.6 (0.46)

0.5 (0.03)

1.8 (0.17)

3.2 (0.54)

3.1 (1.08)

Apr average 2002-2006

2.9

4.4

2.4

5.4

2.4

1.9

3.7

Consumer price increases of major items in Apr 2007 (y-o-y, %) City bus fare (14.2), subway fare (13.5), instant noodle (8.0), soap powder (17.2), gold ring (9.9)

Consumer price decreases of major items in Apr 2007 (y-o-y, %) Radish (-41.1), Chinese cabbage (-56.5), camera (-31.1), mobile phone (-29.6)

Core inflation was up 2.6 percent from a year earlier in April. Consumer prices for basic necessities, a barometer of perceived consumer prices, rose 2.9 percent year-on-year. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2006 Apr

2007 Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Core inflation

1.5

2.1

2.1

2.3

2.4

2.6

Consumer prices for basic necessities

2.9

2.6

1.9

2.4

2.5

2.9

Consumer prices in May are forecast to maintain the stable 2 percent level year-on-year in spite of higher prices of some energy such as oil products and city gas.

30

May 2007


11-1 Prices Source: Korea National Statistical Office (consumer prices, core inflation) & The Bank of Korea (producer prices)

11-2 Consumer price inflation Source: Korea National Statistical Office (consumer price trend)

11-3 Contribution to consumer price inflation Source: Korea National Statistical Office (consumer price trend)

Economic Bulletin

31


11.2. International oil and commodity prices Despite downward factors including the increase in US oil stock, international oil prices rose in April. This was largely due to the OPEC’s output cut as well as heightened geopolitical tensions in oil producing countries such as Nigeria. International oil prices in May are most likely to be influenced by the development of the geopolitical unrest in Iran and Nigeria, and the expected growth of gasoline demand in the US during the driving season from May to September. (US$/barrel, period average) 2004

2005

2006

2007

Annual

Annual

Annual

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Dubai crude

33.6

49.4

61.6

51.8

55.9

58.9

64.0

Brent crude

38.2

54.3

65.1

53.6

57.5

62.3

67.6

WTI crude

41.4

56.5

66.0

54.2

59.2

60.6

63.9

Record high oil prices (spot prices, US$/barrel, Aug 2006) Dubai crude: 72.2

Brent crude: 78.7

WTI crude: 77.0

Prices of domestic oil products including gasoline and diesel rose from a month earlier as international oil prices have deployed upward trends since mid-February. (Won/liter, period average)

Gasoline prices Diesel prices

2004

2005

2006

2007

Annual

Annual

Annual

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

1,295

1,365

1,543

1,411

1,402

1,456

1,505

908

1,080

1,295

1,170

1,164

1,186

1,215

Source: Korea National Oil Corporation

Among international commodities, prices of non-ferrous metals and precious metals continued to rise while prices of grain stabilized with a marginal drop. The prices of electrolytic copper, nickel and lead rose on increased demand in China and concerns over supply disruption in major producers, while tartar price lost ground to post a decline from late April as major producers including Indonesia restarted export. Prices of corn and soybean fell on expected farm expansion and increased exports to South America, while wheat price went up on concerns about bad weather such as cold-weather damage. Price increases in Apr 2007 (m-o-m, %) Gold (3.7), electrolytic copper (19.1), nickel (10.2), lead (10.0), wheat (2.3)

Price decreases in Apr 2007 (m-o-m, %) Corn (-10.9), soy bean (-2.0)

Reuters index*

(Period average)

2004

2005

2006

Annual

Annual

Annual

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

1,618

1,680

2,019

2,223

2,247

2,265

2,296

* A weighted average index of 17 major commodities

32

May 2007

2007


11-4 International oil prices Source: Korea National Oil Corporation

11-5 International oil prices (Dubai crude) and import prices Source: Korea National Oil Corporation & Korea Customs Service

11-6 International commodity prices Source: Bloomberg (CRB) & The Bank of Korea (Reuters index) * CRB demonstrates futures price index of 21 commodities listed on the US Commodity Transaction Market, including beans and other crops, crude oil and jewelry.

Economic Bulletin

33


12. Real estate market 12.1 Housing market Apartment prices in April remained unchanged from the previous month.

Nationwide apartment sales prices 2004

(Percentage change from previous period)

2005

2006

Annual Annual Annual

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

2007 Apr 21

Apr 91

Apr 161 Apr 231

Nationwide

-0.6

5.9

13.8

3.8

2.1

1.0

0.3

0.1

0.0

0.02

-0.02

0.00

-0.03

Seoul

-1.0

9.1

24.1

6.2

3.7

1.8

0.3

0.2

0.0

0.02

0.0

-0.02

-0.06

-1.3

13.5

27.6

6.5

2.4

1.1

0.1

0.0

-0.3

0.00

-0.05

-0.27

-0.06

-3.7

7.6

28.4

8.2

3.6

1.6

0.5

0.2

0.0

0.03

-0.06

-0.04

-0.05

Gangnam

2

Gyeonggi

1. Weekly trends 2. Upscale area of southern Seoul Source: Kookmin Bank

The increase in apartment rental prices decelerated in April.

Nationwide apartment rental prices 2004

(Percentage change from previous period)

2005

2006

2007

Annual Annual Annual

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Apr 21

Apr 91

0.01

0.00

Nationwide

-2.7

5.7

7.6

1.2

0.6

0.5

0.3

0.4

0.3

Seoul

-4.4

6.2

11.5

1.7

0.6

0.7

0.4

0.6

0.4

0.00

Gangnam2

-5.2

8.6

11.3

1.5

0.5

0.7

0.4

0.3

0.2

-0.01

Gyeonggi

-5.5

10.6

12.4

2.1

1.0

0.8

0.4

0.6

0.3

-0.02

Apr 161 Apr 231

0.03

0.00

0.06

0.05

0.04

0.00

-0.04

0.01

-0.04

0.02

-0.08

1. Weekly trends 2. Upscale area of southern Seoul Source: Kookmin Bank

Apartment sales transactions in March increased from the previous month.

Apartment sales transactions 2004

Annual Annual 64

34

(Monthly average, thousand)

2005

79

May 2007

2006

2007

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

107

89

89

81

68

60

100

110

152

116

86

63

70


12-1 Real estate prices Source: Kookmin Bank (national housing price trend)

12-2 Weekly apartment sales prices and monthly transaction volume Source: Kookmin Bank (weekly APT price trend) & Korea Land Corporation (monthly land trade trend)

12-3 Apartment prices by region Source: Kookmin Bank (national housing price trend)

Economic Bulletin

35


12.2 Land market Nationwide land prices in March rose 0.28 percent from the previous month. Only 71 areas out of 248 cities, counties and districts stayed above the nationwide average while the remaining 177 areas stood at the below average.

Land prices by region

(Percentage change from previous period)

2004

2005

Annual Annual

2006

2007

Q3

Q4

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Jan

Feb

Mar

Nationwide

3.86

4.98

1.13

1.11

5.61

1.31

1.43

1.25

1.5

0.36

0.31

0.28

Seoul

4.09

6.56

1.44

1.59

9.17

1.78

2.37

2.19

2.5

0.51

0.46

0.40

Gyeonggi

6.12

5.69

1.41

0.81

5.07

1.12

1.29

1.05

0.5

0.40

0.35

0.31

S. Chungcheong

11.65

8.32

1.28

2.12

5.54

2.77

1.31

0.69

0.67

0.16

0.15

0.14

Nationwide land transactions in March expanded from the previous month as well as from a year earlier.

Land sales transactions 2004

(Monthly average, thousand) 2005

2006

Annual Annual Mar

2007

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Nationwide

218

248

261

231

249

211

182

178

236

239

330

372

242

185

212

Gyeonggi

52

56

61

55

66

52

45

46

66

71

102

100

59

43

48

N. Chungcheong

8

11

11

8

9

9

8

7

8

7

10

13

9

7

9

S. Chungcheong

20

17

17

14

15

12

8

8

10

9

12

15

12

9

11

36

May 2007


12-4 Land and consumer prices since 1970s Source: Korea Land Corporation (land prices) & Korea National Statistical Office (consumer prices)

12-5 Land prices by region Source: Korea Land Corporation (land price trend)

12-6 Land trade volume Source: Korea Land Corporation (land trade trend) 500,000 450,000 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0

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37


13. Composite indexes of business cycle indicators The cyclical indicator of coincident composite index, a barometer of current economic conditions, fell 0.3 percentage points from a month earlier in March, mainly due to the decrease in some components of the index including the value of construction completed and the wholesale and retail sales index. Cyclical indicator of coincident composite index (%p, m-o-m) 1.1 (Oct 2006)

0.3 (Nov)

-0.2 (Dec)

-0.2 (Jan 2007)

0.1 (Feb)

-0.3 (Mar)

The on-year leading composite index in March, which foresees the future economic conditions, remained unchanged month-on-month. Some components of the index including the value of machinery order received and the value of construction order placed were down while the volume of capital goods imports and liquidity in financial institutions increased. 12 month smoothed change in leading composite index (%p, m-o-m) 0.3 (Oct 2006)

0.4 (Nov)

-0.1 (Dec)

0.0 (Jan 2007)

0.2 (Feb)

0.0 (Mar)

2006 Nov Coincident composite index (m-o-m)

2007 Dec

Jun

1

Feb1

Mar1

0.7

0.2

0.2

0.5

0.2

101.0

100.8

100.6

100.7

100.4

0.3

-0.2

-0.2

0.1

-0.3

Leading composite index (m-o-m)

0.8

0.4

0.3

0.6

0.3

12 month smoothed change in leading composite index

4.8

4.7

4.7

4.9

4.9

0.4

-0.1

0.0

0.2

0.0

Cyclical indicator of coincident composite index (%p, m-o-m)

(%p, m-o-m) 1. Preliminary

38

May 2007


13-1 Cyclical indicator of coincident composite index Source: Korea National Statistical Office

13-2 Leading composite index Source: Korea National Statistical Office

13-3 Coincident and leading composite indexes Source: Korea National Statistical Office

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39


Policy Issues Korea, European Union Kick off FTA Talks

On May 1, 2007, the Korean government decided to launch negotiations for the Korea-EU free trade agreement (FTA) at the economy related ministers’ meeting. Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, meeting in Seoul on May 6, agreed to the launch of negotiations on the bilateral free trade agreement. The first round of negotiations on the Korea-EU FTA was held in Seoul from May 7 to 11, 2007. Two sides plan to hold formal talks 5 or 6 times this year for the utmost progress of the FTA. One or two inter-session meetings are expected as and when necessary.

1. Backdrop against the launch of Korea-EU FTA Korea’s high external dependency ratio of over 70 percent and the rapid catching up by BRICs countries have prompted Korea to engage in free trade talks with major economic partners. Besides, growth is moderating due to low fertility and aging, which calls for new growth engines. To foster new growth engines, securing stable overseas markets, attracting investment and enhancing productivity through competition are deemed necessary. The government has been promoting the Korea-EU FTA strategically according to the "FTA promotion roadmap" of August 2003.

Korea's growth potential projected (%) 4.3 (2010s)

2.9 (2020s)

1.8 (2030s)

1.4 (2040s)

Against this backdrop, openness is not an option but an essential strategy for survival. It is also supported by the study of Sachs and Warner in 1995 which found that during the 1970s and 1980s developing countries adopted opening policy achieved a 4.5 percent annual economic growth while those with closed-door policy grew a mere 0.7 percent annually.

40

May 2007


Also, regional economic cooperation efforts including signing FTAs have been expanding drastically. Among 211 regional trade agreements reported to WTO as of September 2006, 70 percent or 149 of them were concluded after 1996.

1955-1960

1961-1970

1971-1980

1981-1990

1991-1995

1996-2000

2001Sep 2006

Concluded FTA

3

3

11

10

35

42

107

Total

3

6

17

27

62

104

211

Source: WTO

EU is the second largest export destination following China and the biggest investor for Korea. EU is the biggest economic bloc in the world. As of 2005, the total GDP of 25 EU member countries amounted to US$13.5 trillion, exceeding that of the US by more than US$1 trillion according to IMF data. EU is the second largest trading partner for Korea next to China. Based on the 2006 trade volume, Korea’s top five trading partners are China (18.6% out of total trade volume), EU (12.5%), Japan (12.4%), and the US (12.1%).

Trade with the US, China and EU (2006)

(US$ billion, %)

EU

US

China

Amount

Weight

Amount

Weight

Amount

Weight

Exports

49.2

15.1

43.2

13.3

69.5

21.4

Imports

30.2

9.8

33.7

10.9

48.6

15.7

Total

79.4

12.5

76.9

12.1

118.1

18.6

Source: Korea International Trade Association

EU’s average tariff rate is higher than advanced countries including the US, especially for Korea’s main export items of automobile, textiles and electronics. The Korea-EU FTA, once concluded, is expected to bring considerable benefits.

High tariff products among main export items to EU (2005) Automobile

Audiovisuals including TV

Export amount (US$ billion)

8.3

2.3

Weight (%)

19

5.2

EU

10

14

Tariff rate (%)

US

2.5

0-5

Japan

0

0

Korea

8

8

EU’s average applied tariff rate is 4.2 percent compared to 3.7 percent of the US and 3.1 percent in Japan.

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41


EU is Korea’s largest investment partner. EU is the largest investor in Korea and Korea’s third largest investment destination next to China and the US.

Investment with the US, China and EU (accumulated, as of end 2006) EU Amount

(US$ billion, %)

US Weight

Amount

China Weight

Amount

Weight

Investment to Korea

40.5

31.9

36.6

28.9

1.8

1.4

Investment from Korea

9.4

13.6

16.7

24.1

17.0

24.4

Source: The Export-Import Bank of Korea, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy

Countries outside the EU face relatively high trade barriers when they trade with EU member countries. The Korea-EU FTA, if concluded, is likely to contribute greatly to promoting investment and trade with EU members while substantially eliminating trade disadvantages. Furthermore, given the EU’s geographical and economic proximity to newly emerging markets such as Russia and former Soviet Union countries, the Korea-EU FTA will help Korean companies gain a foothold in entering the EU market as well as the neighboring countries.

2. Timing of the Korea-EU FTA negotiations Pursuing the Korea-EU FTA was selected as a mid-to-long term implementation task in August 2003 according to the FTA promotion roadmap along with the FTAs with the US and China. Since then, preparatory work has been carried out, separately from the KORUS FTA. As part of the preparatory work, the government commissioned the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) and other institutions to conduct a number of research studies on Korea-EU FTA, including KIEP’s “Economic Impact Analysis of Korea-EU FTA.” Korea-EU FTA will produce considerable benefits given the significant portion of developing countries among 27 EU members and high trade barriers to non-EU countries. As a result of the KORUS FTA negotiations, Korea’s opening up of sensitive areas such as agriculture and services expanded. Accordingly, additional burden from the Korea-EU FTA is not expected to be heavy. Building on the momentum of the KORUS FTA conclusion, Korea is given an opportunity to expand its export market while promoting investment with a view to enhancing services competitiveness. Korea-EU FTA will ultimately solidify the foundation for Korea to become an FTA hub.

42

May 2007


3. Areas of interest in Korea-EU FTA According to the research results so far, the following areas are expected to draw more attention during the course of FTA negotiations. Goods: Korea’s main export items such as automobile, electric and electronic products are expected to see their markets expand. Higher productivity and job creation are also likely. Korea will likely pay attention to export increase of automobile and automobile parts, electric and electronic equipment, textiles and clothing, while EU to increased market access in the areas of machinery, chemicals, automobile, medicine and cosmetics. Agriculture and fisheries: Korea-EU FTA’s impact on Korea’s agriculture and fisheries is expected to be limited compared with that of FTAs with the US and China. EU has also a high degree of sensitivity in the agricultural sector. Korea-EU FTA’s additional adverse effects on the sector will be marginal. For EU, exports of processed dairy products such as butter and cheese and processed alcoholic liquors including wine and whisky are likely to expand. For Korea, some processed agricultural products such as Kimchi will see their exports grow. The level of concession for agricultural products in EU’s FTAs with Mexico and Chile ranges from 68 percent to 80 percent.

Level of concession for agricultural products (%) Tariff line based

Value of import based

EU-Mexico FTA (immediate elimination)

68.1 (33.6)

83.0 (62.1)

EU-Chile FTA (immediate elimination)

80.0 (43.3)

99.1 (17.5)

Services and investment: EU has traditionally adopted a positive list system, which has a lower level of openness compared with a negative list system employed by the US. Therefore, both sides are likely to mutually benefit from concentrating on the areas of interest. EU is likely to focus on finance, telecommunications, courier service, legal and accounting services and news agency activities. Sensitive areas such as coastal transport and audio and visual services are expected to be excluded from the negotiations. Mutual cooperative tools are likely to be developed instead. As for Investor-State Dispute (ISD), the European Commission’s stance is that ISD is subject to bilateral investment treaty by each member country and should be excluded from the FTA negotiations. Korea will put its priority on laying the foundation for forging Mutual Recognition Agreement to encourage domestic professionals to enter the EU market. The experts include architects, nurses and veterinarians. Simplification of immigration procedure and market expansion for

Economic Bulletin

43


sea transport, telecommunications and audio-visual services are also the areas of interest. Audio-visual services include film-making, distribution and music recording. Others: EU is projected to have interest in intellectual property rights, in particular, geographical identification or GI, exclusive right to medical information and practical protective measures for IPR. Both Korea and the EU have interest in the government procurement. A comprehensive WTO plus negotiation, a higher level agreement than the government procurement, is expected.

4. Expected losses from Korea-EU FTA and domestic compensation measures As with other FTAs, calculating expected amount of losses from signing Korea-EU FTA and the detailed compensation measures can be developed after negotiation results are produced. However, it is highly likely that the Korea-EU FTA will mostly resemble the KORUS FTA in terms of its substance. Therefore, it is expected that the compensation measures for KORUS FTA, currently underway, can also be utilized as the compensation measures for the Korea-EU FTA. Still, the government will closely monitor whether there will be any newly expected areas of losses, thereby coming up with timely measures.

44

May 2007


Economic News Briefing

GDP increases on-quarter 0.9% in Q1 (preliminary) Korea’s real GDP in the first quarter of 2007 gained 0.9 percent (seasonally adjusted) from the previous quarter as exports, capital investments and a solid recovery in the construction sector led growth. The economy grew 4.0 percent year-on-year. Exports in the first quarter rose 2.8 percent from the previous quarter, a turnaround from a 0.5 percent fall three months earlier. Imports climbed 3.9 percent, compared with a 2.1 percent contraction in the fourth quarter of last year. With respect to production, the construction sector grew 1.6 percent, and service businesses expanded 1.2 percent from the previous quarter. However, the manufacturing industry contracted 0.8 percent from three month earlier on a slump in the semiconductors and other sectors. In terms of expenditure, facility investments jumped 4 percent, with construction investments rising 1.2 percent. In addition, private consumption gained 1.3 percent onquarter on brisk sales of cars and home appliances, the highest quarter-on-quarter growth since the second quarter of 2005. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund predicted in its twice yearly report, “World Economic Outlook,” that Korea’s economy will grow 4.4 percent this year, slowing from a 5 percent advance last year, as exports may cool due to a US economic slowdown.

Economic Bulletin

45


GDP by production and expenditure*

(Percentage change from previous quarter)

2005

20061

20071

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

GDP

0.7

1.6

1.6

1.7

1.0

0.8

1.2

0.9

0.9

Agriculture, forestry and fishery

-2.4

0.1

-0.1

0.6

-2.2

-0.7

-0.4

-0.6

1.3

Manufacturing

1.0

2.0

2.8

3.9

0.8

1.6

2.2

1.0

-0.8

Construction

0.0

2.9

-1.8

-0.8

-0.2

-1.4

3.6

0.6

1.6

Services2

0.8

1.2

1.2

1.0

1.1

0.7

0.9

1.2

1.2

Private consumption

0.5

1.9

1.0

1.2

1.2

0.6

0.9

1.0

1.3

Facility investment

2.1

2.0

0.9

5.2

-1.0

2.2

3.8

0.1

4.0

Construction investment

0.2

4.4

-2.6

-1.3

0.0

-0.9

2.0

1.9

1.2

Goods exports3

2.8

0.9

5.9

1.7

2.3

5.4

2.9

-0.5

2.8

Goods imports

-1.9

3.8

4.4

0.7

1.8

6.1

2.0

-2.1

3.9

-0.7

1.0

0.5

1.2

-0.5

0.5

0.5

2.6

-0.7

GDI

3

*At 2000 constant prices, seasonally adjusted 1. Preliminary 2. Wholesale and retail sales, hotel and restaurants, transportation and storage, communication services, financial and insurance services, real estate, business services, public administration, defense and social security, educational services, healthcare and social welfare services and other services are included. 3. FOB basis

Korean government measures to boost FDI As the Korean government estimates additional foreign direct investment (FDI) will soon follow after the conclusion of Korea-US free trade agreement, foreign investors in Korea will be able to get better support on issues such as tax incentives and ways to cut distribution costs. The government passed several new plans aiming to attract more FDI at a meeting presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Okyu Kwon, on April 20, 2007. Korean manufacturers working with foreign-invested firms, even if they have no foreign stakes, will be allowed to do business in the foreign investment zone (FIZ), albeit on a limited basis. Until now, only foreign firms could open a factory within the FIZ. With the change, foreign investors in FIZ are expected to save distribution costs and streamline operations with greater efficiency. In addition, more areas including Daesan county in South Chungcheong province, will be designated as FIZ, where tax benefits and cash support are available for foreign invested firms. An ombudsman system will be up and running to solve foreign investor inconveniences. Among measures to create a favorable investment environment for foreign investors, more international schools will be built and the government will examine ways to increase television broadcasting programs which provide English subtitles. Also, foreigners and expatriates will be obliged to join the state-run medical insurance program.

46

May 2007


FDI outflow and inflow in the January-March period Korea’s foreign direct investment (FDI) outflow (notification basis) during the first quarter of 2007 rose 0.4 percent year-on-year to US$3.84 billion. The moderate increase was attributable to high comparison base set in 2006. Investment in mining, real estate and construction, which surged last year, substantially dropped. FDI outflow to Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, which recorded more than 100 percent growth last year, reversed its course to indicate downward trends. Meantime, investment by SMEs and individuals kept increasing while investment by large companies fell. (US$ billion)

2005

2006

2007

Annual

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Annual

Q1

FDI outflow

9.03 (14.3)*

3.83 (89.5)

3.32 (78.9)

5.39 (89.9)

5.93 (142.1)

18.44 (104.1)

3.84 (0.4)

Notified cases

4,561 (16.3)

1,198 (23.3)

1,370 (17.3)

1,307 (8.8)

1,374 (12.6)

5,249 (15.1)

53.9 (89.9)

* Figures in parenthesis refer to percentage change from same period in previous year.

By country, the FDI outflow was concentrated on China and the US. SK Networks and Hynix Semiconductor led investment in China while Samsung Electronics driving investment in the US. Investment increase in Japan, Cambodia and Kazakhstan was led by real estate. By industry, investing in mining, real estate and construction dropped while manufacturing and wholesales and retail sales posting solid growth. By company size, investment by large companies fell 17.5 percent affected by decrease in mining and telecommunications while investment by SMEs and individuals rose. Meantime, inbound FDI (notification basis) for the first three months of this year decreased 27.6 percent year-on-year to US$1,599 million mainly due to the absence of large scale investments over US$0.1 billion.

KORUS FTA to add 340,000 jobs for a decade The Korea-US free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) is expected to create 340,000 more jobs in Korea and increase Korean consumers’ welfare by 20 trillion won with consumer price reduction and improved service qualities for 10 years from the enforcement of the pact, according to a joint study released on April 30 by 11 state-run think tanks including the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). Also the FTA with the US is forecast to boost Korea’s real GDP by 6.0 percent or 80 trillion won and its total trade account surplus by US$2 billion a year driven by an annual US$0.46 billion expansion in trade surplus with the US. The study resulted from comprehensive and elaborate analysis on the economic effect of the KORUS FTA based on Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model combined with

Economic Bulletin

47


microeconomic analysis on vertical business sectors. The CGE model is the most generally used tool to measure the economic effect of FTAs with correlated domestic and external sectors reflected. Meanwhile, the Korean experts, businesses as well as the public are generally positive about the FTA with the US, according to separate surveys. In a recent survey conducted by KDI of 253 economic experts, 65.6 percent said they found the results of the FTA negotiations to be “satisfactory.” The Korea Trade Commission’s survey of 600 companies also revealed that 64.5 percent of the respondents looked favorably on the FTA talks. In addition, 61.5 percent of the Koreans believe the agreement will benefit their country, up 8 percentage points from February, according to a poll conducted by the Gallup Korea commissioned by the KORUS FTA Industry Alliance, a private pro-free trade organization.

Financial firms encouraged to expand overseas Korea’s financial holding companies will be allowed to take over foreign financial firms regardless of business categories while local private equity funds will be able to set up offshore special purpose companies, according to a comprehensive deregulation plan unveiled by the Ministry of Finance and Economy on April 25. The new measures were designed to help local financial services companies make inroad into foreign markets to create new earnings sources and become globally competitive as the domestic sector has become saturated. Under the new plan, financial firms will be under eased regulations on required share ownership in their overseas units with the approval of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). Currently, financial services companies should own at least a 30 percent stake of their listed units or a 50 percent stake of their unlisted units. In addition, local insurers will be approved to own more than a 15 percent stake in private equity funds if the FSC approves them to put the buyout funds under their wings. The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) plans to set up a private equity fund with institutional investors this year and the state-run Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) will also directly invest part of its funds in overseas markets as a series of the government’s efforts to diversify risks from financial firms’ overseas expansion through co-investments by private and public sectors. A committee headed by the deputy finance and economy ministry will be set up to coordinate the government-wide efforts. The government also plans to establish the so called “financial hub assistance center” to provide comprehensive supports and build an overseas integration information system (OIIS) by July to provide up-to-date information for financial firms looking to advance overseas.

48

May 2007


Korea revises Financial Industry Act The Act on the Structural Improvement of the Financial Industry and its enforcement decree were revised and took effect on April 27, 2007. Accordingly, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) amended supervisory regulations to clarify the provisions that were previously mandated to Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), such as the requirements of ex post facto approval for over-ownership of shares. Firstly, those who fail to receive approval for over-ownership of shares from FSC beforehand can exceptionally get the ex post facto approval when their conditions conform to one of these five cases; repayment of actual goods after liquidation of private equity funds (PEF); debt swap under the Act on Restoration of Debtor and Liquidation; debt swap under the financial institution agreements to encourage corporate restructuring; acquirement by securities firms issuing equity-linked securities (ELS) with the intension of risk aversion; and/or acquirement by private sector social overhead capitals (SOC) or property-investing firms. Secondly, the total number of issued voting stocks is defined as the total sum minus nonvoting stocks. The shares owned by the third party through private or public equity funds are included as the share ownership. Thirdly, concerning ex post facto regular audit, qualifications for financial institution overowning shares in other firms are examined every two years by the governor of FSS and then the results are reported to FSC. Particularly, when a financial institution changes share ownership of other financial firms in the same category of businesses, audit can be conducted whenever necessary. Lastly, in case of merger and conversion of financial institutions, merger approval is subject to the same standards applied to the establishment while conversion can be approved by both establishment and closure standards.

Securities firms spur to improve competitiveness Domestic securities companies have increased shareholders’ equity and diversified business activities according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)’s assessment of recent developments in the securities industry. The positive trend would likely help them provide sophisticated investment banking services once the new legislation, tentatively titled “Financial Investment Services and Capital Market Act,” takes effect. Securities firms conducted five seasoned equity offerings (SEO) and initial public offerings (IPO) in the first quarter of 2007 raising a total of 752.5 billon won, with two more offerings scheduled in May. They have also been increasing their retained earnings; keeping 82.8

Economic Bulletin

49


percent of their record high net income of 3.19 trillion won in fiscal year 2005 ended March 2006. As a result of these efforts, domestic securities companies’ shareholders’ equity rose 34.3 percent in the past two years to 4.8 trillion won. The securities industry is focusing on expanding their asset management services such as the cash management account (CMA) and the repurchase agreement (RP) to reduce their dependence on brokerage commissions. The outstanding amount in CMAs totaled 11.3 trillion won at the end of February 2007, a hundredfold increase from two years ago, as CMA gains popularity with high liquidity and returns. Securities companies also increased their investment in private equity funds (PEF) by investing in nine PEFs, as a limited partner and five PEFs as a general partner with a subscription total of 526.5 billion won. Besides, securities companies’ opening of overseas offices has been on the rise. As of the end of 2006, 11 securities companies were operating 34 overseas offices in eight countries. In 2007, securities companies are planning to open seven overseas offices in China and other Southeast Asian countries.

50

May 2007


Statistical Appendices Tables & Figures 1. National accounts 2. Production, shipment and inventory 3. Production capacity and operation ratio 4. Consumer goods sales index 5. Consumer goods shipment index and consumer sentiment index 6. Machinery orders received, domestic machinery shipment, and estimated facility investment index 7. Value of construction completed and domestic construction orders received 8. Composite indexes of business cycle indicators and BSI 9. Balance of payments (I) 10. Balance of payments (II) 11. Prices 12. Employment and earnings 13. Financial indicators 14. Monetary indicators 15. Exchange rates

Economic Bulletin

51


1. National accounts (year-on-year change, %, 2000 constant prices) Real GDP Period Agri., fores. & fisheries

Manufacturing

Gross fixed capital formation

Final consumption expenditure

Construction

Facilities

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

7.0 4.7 -6.9 9.5 8.5

2.3 4.6 -6.4 5.9 1.2

6.4 4.9 -7.9 21.8 17.0

7.0 3.2 -10.6 9.7 7.1

8.4 -2.3 -22.9 8.3 12.2

7.5 2.3 -12.4 -3.8 -0.8

9.2 -9.6 -42.3 36.8 33.6

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006P

3.8 7.0 3.1 4.7 4.2 5.0

1.1 -3.5 -5.3 9.2 0.7 -2.6

2.2 7.6 5.5 11.1 7.1 8.4

4.9 7.6 -0.3 0.4 3.9 4.5

-0.2 6.6 4.0 2.1 2.4 3.2

6.0 5.3 7.9 1.1 -0.2 -0.4

-9.0 7.5 -1.2 3.8 5.7 7.6

2001

I II III IV

3.5 3.7 3.4 4.6

-2.4 2.4 0.9 1.2

3.4 4.1 0.0 1.3

2.3 4.2 5.7 7.3

-3.7 -3.5 -0.5 6.2

1.0 0.8 9.6 10.7

-9.4 -10.6 -14.2 -1.3

2002

I II III IV

6.5 7.0 6.8 7.5

6.7 -2.7 -3.2 -5.5

5.2 6.2 7.4 11.4

9.4 8.5 7.3 5.3

7.7 7.3 2.4 9.1

11.0 6.0 -2.4 8.4

3.3 8.0 9.1 9.6

2003

I II III IV

3.8 2.2 2.3 4.1

-3.3 0.5 -7.8 -6.9

5.8 3.3 4.2 8.6

1.2 -0.6 -1.0 -0.9

4.7 4.2 2.7 4.3

7.7 7.9 7.7 8.3

2.3 -0.4 -4.6 -2.0

2004

I II III IV

5.4 5.7 4.7 3.3

10.1 4.2 4.3 13.3

11.9 13.6 11.7 7.7

-0.4 0.7 0.1 1.3

2.4 4.7 2.9 -1.1

4.9 3.8 1.0 -3.3

-0.1 6.4 6.8 2.4

2005

I II III IV

2.9 3.4 4.8 5.5

-0.1 3.1 1.9 -0.5

5.4 5.1 7.5 10.1

2.0 3.9 4.8 4.9

0.5 2.1 2.2 4.3

-3.3 1.1 -0.1 0.4

3.8 3.1 5.0 10.8

2006P I II III IV

6.3 5.1 4.8 4.0

0.9 -3.3 -4.7 -2.0

9.9 9.3 9.0 5.7

5.2 4.3 4.3 4.3

3.5 0.1 4.6 4.5

0.2 -5.0 -0.1 3.2

7.0 7.2 11.1 5.3

2007P I

4.0

2.5

3.9

4.3

2.1

4.3

10.3

P: Preliminary Source: The Bank of Korea

52

May 2007


Growth rate by economic activity

Growth rate by expenditure on GDP

Economic Bulletin

53


2. Production, shipment and inventory See graphs 6-1, 6-3, 7-1, 7-2 & 7-3 (constant prices, 2000 = 100)

Period

2004 2005 2006

Production index

Y-o-Y change (%)

Shipment index

Y-o-Y change (%)

Inventory index

Y-o-Y change (%)

Service production index

Y-o-Y change (%)

126.2 134.1 147.6

10.2 6.3 10.1

124.7 131.7 142.0

9.1 5.6 7.8

121.2 124.1 131.8

9.3 2.4 6.2

118.3 122.6 129.0

0.7 3.6 5.2

2004

I II III IV

122.8 127.1 121.7 133.5

11.4 12.8 10.9 6.4

121.2 125.5 120.3 131.9

10.2 11.0 10.0 5.7

117.2 115.9 116.1 121.2

4.5 2.9 4.9 9.3

116.0 119.3 116.6 121.2

2.2 1.0 -0.4 -0.1

2005

I II III IV

127.1 131.6 130.4 147.3

3.5 3.5 7.1 10.3

125.6 129.9 128.0 143.2

3.6 3.5 6.4 8.6

127.6 124.3 122.8 124.1

8.9 7.2 5.8 2.4

116.9 122.4 123.0 128.3

0.8 2.6 5.5 5.9

2006

I II III IV

143.4 146.7 145.2 155.0

12.8 11.5 11.3 5.2

137.8 141.6 139.8 148.6

9.7 9.0 9.2 3.8

132.4 133.6 130.8 131.8

3.8 7.5 6.5 6.2

124.1 129.0 128.5 134.5

6.2 5.4 4.5 4.8

2007P I

148.2

3.3

143.8

4.4

140.3

6.0

130.9

5.5

2004 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

115.5 121.8 131.0 126.9 127.3 127.0 122.4 119.6 123.0 133.0 134.3 133.1

4.8 17.6 12.2 11.4 13.9 12.9 12.9 10.4 9.4 5.3 9.6 4.1

114.0 119.7 129.9 125.8 125.1 125.5 120.4 118.3 122.3 132.1 133.2 130.3

4.2 15.1 11.4 10.3 11.5 11.2 12.3 9.7 8.1 4.8 9.2 3.1

114.2 116.7 117.2 115.0 117.4 115.9 117.4 117.3 116.1 116.3 119.0 121.2

4.1 5.3 4.5 1.3 3.5 2.9 3.3 3.5 4.9 5.7 8.4 9.3

114.1 111.9 121.7 118.3 119.0 119.6 116.2 114.4 117.5 117.8 118.2 126.5

0.0 3.9 2.5 0.6 0.6 1.7 -0.6 -0.6 -0.2 -0.7 -0.4 0.6

2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

131.9 112.6 136.8 131.1 131.9 131.7 131.0 127.7 132.4 143.7 150.1 148.2

14.2 -7.6 4.4 3.3 3.6 3.7 7.0 6.8 7.6 8.0 11.8 11.3

128.4 112.5 135.8 129.3 129.3 131.0 128.2 126.3 129.5 140.3 146.3 142.9

12.6 -6.0 4.5 2.8 3.4 4.4 6.5 6.8 5.9 6.2 9.8 9.7

128.6 127.3 127.6 127.8 128.1 124.3 126.7 122.7 122.8 122.7 122.6 124.1

12.6 9.1 8.9 11.1 9.1 7.2 7.9 4.6 5.8 5.5 3.0 2.4

115.2 111.4 123.7 120.6 122.3 122.9 121.5 121.3 124.0 123.4 125.4 134.7

1.0 -0.4 1.6 1.9 2.8 2.8 4.6 6.0 5.5 4.8 6.1 6.5

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

142.1 136.7 151.4 145.1 148.5 146.5 137.4 142.6 155.7 151.6 160.8 152.7

7.7 21.4 10.7 10.7 12.6 11.2 4.9 11.7 17.6 5.5 7.1 3.0

135.2 132.2 146.0 140.1 142.8 141.9 130.5 138.5 150.5 144.4 154.1 147.2

5.3 17.5 7.5 8.4 10.4 8.3 1.8 9.7 16.2 2.9 5.3 3.0

128.1 130.2 132.4 132.5 134.7 133.6 135.8 131.7 130.8 131.6 131.3 131.8

-0.4 2.3 3.8 3.7 5.2 7.5 7.2 7.3 6.5 7.3 7.1 6.2

124.1 118.1 130.2 128.5 130.2 128.2 124.9 128.0 132.5 129.0 132.5 141.9

7.7 6.0 5.3 6.6 6.5 4.3 2.8 5.5 6.9 4.5 5.7 5.4

2007 1 2P 3P

152.7 135.9 156.1

7.5 -0.6 3.1

144.6 133.8 153.1

7.0 1.2 4.9

142.1 141.4 140.3

10.9 8.6 6.0

130.3 126.0 136.5

5.0 6.7 4.8

P: Preliminary Source: Korea National Statistical Office

54

May 2007


3. Production capacity and operation ratio See graph 6-2

Period

2004 2005 2006

Y-o-Y change (%)

Operation ratio index (2000=100)

Y-o-Y change (%)

Average operation ratio (%)

115.1 119.0 123.1

4.8 3.4 3.4

102.5 102.1 103.1

2.8 -0.4 1.0

80.3 79.7 81.1

Production capacity index (2000=100)

2004

I II III IV

113.0 115.3 115.6 116.5

3.9 5.1 5.5 4.8

101.0 104.9 98.3 105.8

3.9 4.0 3.5 0.1

80.9 80.6 79.6 80.2

2005

I II III IV

117.2 118.1 118.9 121.7

3.7 2.4 2.9 4.5

99.4 104.1 98.7 106.0

-1.6 -0.8 0.4 0.2

79.5 79.5 79.9 80.1

2006

I II III IV

122.6 122.8 122.7 124.3

4.6 4.0 3.2 2.1

102.2 105.0 100.8 104.4

2.8 0.9 2.1 -1.5

81.8 80.7 80.6 81.3

2007P I

124.4

1.5

102.2

0.0

81.6

2004 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

112.3 112.9 113.8 114.7 115.6 115.7 115.6 115.6 115.6 116.1 116.5 116.9

3.8 4.3 3.5 4.5 5.3 5.7 5.6 5.5 5.5 4.9 4.6 4.9

94.3 100.7 108.0 105.4 104.9 104.5 100.0 96.5 98.5 106.6 107.2 103.6

-2.7 9.6 5.0 2.3 5.2 4.6 6.4 3.0 1.2 -2.4 4.1 -1.2

79.8 82.7 80.1 80.7 81.6 79.6 79.1 79.8 80.0 79.8 80.6 80.1

2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

117.1 117.2 117.3 117.3 118.4 118.5 118.5 118.6 119.5 121.0 122.0 122.1

4.3 3.8 3.1 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.6 3.4 4.2 4.7 4.4

102.7 86.8 108.6 104.8 104.0 103.6 101.8 96.2 98.2 104.9 108.7 104.5

8.9 -13.8 0.6 -0.6 -0.9 -0.9 1.8 -0.3 -0.3 -1.6 1.4 0.9

80.8 77.3 80.4 79.4 79.0 80.0 80.6 79.8 79.2 79.2 81.3 79.9

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

122.5 122.5 122.7 122.7 122.8 122.8 122.8 122.6 122.6 124.1 124.3 124.4

4.6 4.5 4.6 4.6 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.4 2.6 2.6 1.9 1.9

99.8 97.5 109.3 103.3 106.2 105.5 94.9 98.0 109.4 101.2 109.7 102.4

-2.8 12.3 0.6 -1.4 2.1 1.8 -6.8 1.9 11.4 -3.5 0.9 -2.0

83.1 80.9 81.3 79.3 80.9 81.9 76.7 81.2 84.0 81.9 81.6 80.5

2007 1 2P 3P

124.4 124.4 124.5

1.6 1.6 1.5

104.2 93.0 109.5

4.4 -4.6 0.2

81.4 82.0 81.4

P: Preliminary Source: Korea National Statistical Office

Economic Bulletin

55


4. Consumer goods sales index See graphs 2-2, 2-3, 2-4 & 2-5 (constant prices, 2000 = 100)

Period

2004 2005 2006

Consumer goods sales index

Y-o-Y change (%)

Y-o-Y change (%)

Semi-durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

Non-durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

116.2 121.0 126.7

1.0 4.1 4.7

117.1 124.7 138.4

3.3 6.5 11.0

115.8 124.9 131.3

3.9 7.9 5.1

116.0 117.4 118.7

-1.4 1.2 1.1

2004

I II III IV

114.3 115.9 113.7 121.0

0.5 1.7 0.7 1.3

110.6 115.3 117.6 125.0

-2.2 0.8 4.9 9.8

112.7 117.5 101.9 131.3

1.0 7.5 3.6 4.0

117.0 115.4 117.3 114.1

1.7 -0.5 -2.4 -4.2

2005

I II III IV

115.8 120.0 119.0 129.4

1.3 3.5 4.7 6.9

114.5 122.9 126.4 135.1

3.5 6.6 7.5 8.1

115.5 125.9 111.7 146.6

2.5 7.1 9.6 11.7

116.6 115.7 118.7 118.4

-0.3 0.3 1.2 3.8

2006

I II III IV

121.9 127.3 122.4 135.2

5.3 6.1 2.9 4.5

127.7 136.8 140.8 148.1

11.5 11.3 11.4 9.6

124.1 134.3 114.9 151.9

7.4 6.7 2.9 3.6

118.0 119.2 116.7 120.8

1.2 3.0 -1.7 2.0

2007P I

130.7

7.2

149.4

17.0

131.8

6.2

120.8

2.4

2004 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

120.2 107.7 115.0 115.5 117.2 114.9 113.7 107.4 119.9 118.7 119.3 125.1

-1.6 3.3 0.2 1.3 -0.4 4.3 1.3 -1.1 1.7 -0.2 0.3 3.7

110.2 108.3 113.3 117.6 112.7 115.5 122.5 113.3 117.0 122.8 122.6 129.6

-6.3 1.6 -1.6 0.1 -2.7 5.2 6.0 6.0 2.8 5.0 10.0 14.6

116.7 107.0 114.3 119.5 124.2 108.7 104.2 88.3 113.2 130.0 132.4 131.5

-0.6 7.2 -2.9 5.3 6.4 11.4 6.4 -0.9 4.7 5.5 1.9 4.5

126.9 107.8 116.2 112.5 116.1 117.6 113.7 113.6 124.6 111.3 111.4 119.7

0.2 2.5 2.5 0.2 -2.5 0.9 -3.1 -4.3 0.0 -5.5 -5.2 -1.9

2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

115.5 111.7 120.1 119.0 121.7 119.3 119.9 114.5 122.5 123.4 127.6 137.2

-3.9 3.7 4.4 3.0 3.8 3.8 5.5 6.6 2.2 4.0 7.0 9.7

114.3 106.7 122.6 121.5 122.7 124.4 136.6 124.7 117.8 125.5 135.3 144.5

3.7 -1.5 8.2 3.3 8.9 7.7 11.5 10.1 0.7 2.2 10.4 11.5

115.7 107.9 122.9 126.7 131.6 119.3 113.7 97.8 123.6 141.4 143.0 155.5

-0.9 0.8 7.5 6.0 6.0 9.8 9.1 10.8 9.2 8.8 8.0 18.3

116.1 116.1 117.6 114.0 116.4 116.7 114.5 117.4 124.3 113.8 116.4 124.9

-8.5 7.7 1.2 1.3 0.3 -0.8 0.7 3.3 -0.2 2.2 4.5 4.3

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

126.0 113.3 126.5 125.6 129.7 126.5 118.9 119.4 129.0 129.8 134.1 141.7

9.1 1.4 5.3 5.5 6.6 6.0 -0.8 4.3 5.3 5.2 5.1 3.3

122.3 123.9 136.9 131.2 136.6 142.5 135.6 141.0 145.9 136.6 151.3 156.5

7.0 16.1 11.7 8.0 11.3 14.5 -0.7 13.1 23.9 8.8 11.8 8.3

125.6 115.9 130.8 137.7 141.2 123.9 115.7 99.7 129.2 141.4 152.7 161.6

8.6 7.4 6.4 8.7 7.3 3.9 1.8 1.9 4.5 0.0 6.8 3.9

128.1 106.6 119.2 117.1 120.7 119.7 111.9 117.9 120.3 120.8 116.7 124.9

10.3 -8.2 1.4 2.7 3.7 2.6 -2.3 0.4 -3.2 6.2 0.3 0.0

2007 1 2P 3P

129.4 127.0 135.7

2.7 12.1 7.3

148.2 139.2 160.8

21.2 12.3 17.5

132.1 124.1 139.3

5.2 7.1 6.5

118.7 122.2 121.4

-7.3 14.6 1.8

P: Preliminary Source: Korea National Statistical Office

56

Durable goods

May 2007


5. Consumer goods shipment index and consumer sentiment index See graph 2-6

Period

2004 2005 2006

Domestic consumer goods shipment index (2000=100) Y-o-Y change (%)

Consumer sentiment index Durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

Non-durable goods

105.8 108.0 113.3

-1.4 2.1 4.9

106.4 112.6 124.0

-4.7 5.8 10.1

103.6 104.2 107.8

Y-o-Y change (%)

Present Expectations situation index index

2004

I II III IV

107.2 104.9 102.5 108.7

0.2 0.3 -1.6 -4.1

110.4 108.5 99.6 107.3

-2.2 -4.0 -5.5 -7.1

104.8 101.3 101.7 106.5

-1.1 0.6 3.5 0.6 0.7 -1.5 -3.9

-

-

2005

I II III IV

102.4 105.3 107.7 116.6

-4.5 0.4 5.1 7.3

101.8 111.2 111.5 126.0

-7.8 2.5 11.9 17.4

100.6 101.3 104.7 110.4

-4.0 0.0 2.9 3.7

-

-

2006

I II III IV

109.4 111.3 113.4 119.2

6.8 5.7 5.3 2.2

116.1 125.1 121.7 133.2

14.0 12.5 9.1 5.7

105.0 104.4 109.4 112.6

4.4 3.1 4.5 2.0

-

-

2007P I

114.3

4.5

129.6

11.6

107.8

2.7

-

-

2004 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

106.2 103.5 112.0 107.9 103.5 103.2 102.5 100.7 104.4 108.5 108.8 108.9

-5.7 3.7 3.2 1.6 -1.4 0.7 -0.3 -1.9 -2.5 -5.5 -0.3 -6.2

103.3 112.1 115.7 112.6 106.7 106.1 102.4 96.6 99.8 108.7 109.1 104.1

-9.0 2.2 0.3 -3.0 -6.7 -2.1 -2.9 -3.0 -10.2 -8.0 -3.5 -9.9

106.8 98.5 109.0 104.2 100.0 99.8 100.7 100.9 103.6 105.6 105.3 108.6

-4.8 3.2 3.7 2.8 -0.8 0.3 -0.8 -2.5 -1.1 -5.7 -0.5 -5.2

101.2 99.0 96.4 103.0 97.1 94.1 90.8 88.3 90.1 89.1 87.8 86.5

72.6 71.9 68.5 74.9 70.7 67.3 66.2 63.1 65.0 65.1 62.8 62.2

2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

107.2 91.7 108.2 103.9 104.9 107.1 106.7 107.0 109.4 113.8 117.6 118.4

0.9 -11.4 -3.4 -3.7 1.4 3.8 4.1 6.3 4.8 4.9 8.1 8.7

102.1 91.4 112.0 107.5 110.6 115.4 116.1 108.1 110.4 122.4 128.9 126.8

-1.2 -18.5 -3.2 -4.5 3.7 8.8 13.4 11.9 10.6 12.6 18.1 21.8

106.9 90.3 104.5 100.6 101.1 102.1 101.5 105.2 107.3 107.8 110.2 113.2

0.1 -8.3 -4.1 -3.5 1.1 2.3 0.8 4.3 3.6 2.1 4.7 4.2

92.5 102.5 105.7 104.7 102.2 97.8 97.2 96.7 99.1 100.0 101.5 103.0

66.5 83.2 89.6 90.2 85.5 79.7 78.9 78.3 81.2 83.4 84.9 85.3

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

110.4 103.1 114.6 108.8 112.0 113.0 104.7 110.5 124.9 114.1 122.8 120.7

3.0 12.4 5.9 4.7 6.8 5.5 -1.9 3.3 14.2 0.3 4.4 1.9

112.3 112.5 123.5 118.1 125.5 131.8 110.3 117.4 137.3 126.8 139.4 133.4

10.0 23.1 10.3 9.9 13.5 14.2 -5 8.6 24.4 3.6 8.1 5.2

107.9 97.8 109.2 103.7 105.3 104.2 102.2 107.5 118.4 107.8 115.1 115.0

0.9 8.3 4.5 3.1 4.2 2.1 0.7 2.2 10.3 0.0 4.4 1.6

104.5 103.8 103.4 100.6 98.0 97.4 94.3 93.7 94.8 93.9 95.2 93.7

88.4 89.0 90.1 87.2 83.0 81.9 78.7 77.8 78.9 80.7 77.3 77.1

2007 1 2 3 4

117.5 107.2P 118.3P -

6.4 4.0P 3.2P -

127.5 120.6P 140.6P -

13.5 7.2P 13.8P -

113.1 101.5P 108.9P -

4.8 3.8P -0.3P -

96.1 98.1 97.8 100.1

79.3 82.3 83.3 87.4

P: Preliminary Source: Korea National Statistical Office

Economic Bulletin

57


6. Machinery orders received, domestic machinery shipment and estimated facility investment index See graph 3-2 Domestic machinery orders received excluding ship (billion won) Period

2005 2006

Estimated facility investment index (2000=100)

Domestic machinery shipment excluding ship (2000=100)

Total

Public

Private

24,260 27,702

2,472 2,515

21,879 25,188

10,195 13,071

107.4 115.3

101.8 106.6

Manufacturing

2005

I II III IV

6,207 6,008 5,796 6,248

693 388 580 811

5,514 5,620 5,217 5,437

2,632 2,800 2,330 2,433

104.6 108.1 103.6 113.3

97.2 104.8 98.5 106.8

2006

I II III IV

6,779 7,259 6,670 6,994

293 559 671 991

6,486 6,700 5,999 6,003

3,405 3,531 3,060 3,074

111.1 115.3 115.8 119.1

101.9 108.2 102.4 114.0

2007P I

7,801

337

7,465

3,755

123.5

108.6

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

1,938 1,968 1,890 1,928 1,929 2,391

224 221 134 235 145 431

1,714 1,747 1,756 1,693 1,784 1,960

780 754 797 727 798 908

110.8 102.0 98.1 107.5 109.6 122.8

101.8 96.5 97.1 98.2 100.6 121.5

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

2,022 2,324 2,434 2,377 2,219 2,664 1,892 2,264 2,514 2,587 2,123 2,283

81 96 117 94 93 372 72 256 342 635 71 286

1,941 2,228 2,317 2,282 2,126 2,292 1,820 2,007 2,172 1,95 2,052 1,999

960 1,187 1,259 1,225 1,070 1,236 86 1,016 1,178 1,015 999 1,060

102.3 103.5 127.5 117.1 116.1 112.6 115.1 116.7 115.5 113.5 118.1 125.6

93.1 96.4 116.2 104.9 111.9 107.9 95.3 101.4 110.6 101.2 111.0 129.7

2007 1 2P 3P

2,525 2,724 2,552

78 168 91

2,451 2,556 2,461

1,253 1,337 1,166

118.1 116.7 135.7

102.8 103.0 120.0

1.5 1.42

-3.6 1.7

2.1 15.6

-3.8 28.2

6.3 7.4

0.6 4.7

Y-o-Y change (%) 2005 2006 2005

I II III IV

-6.9 -12.2 14.0 17.5

7.7 -51.5 38.9 15.7

-8.4 -7.0 11.7 17.8

-10.3 -6.5 2.7 1.4

5.0 2.5 4.2 14.0

-0.3 -1.1 2.4 1.8

2006

I II III IV

9.2 20.8 15.1 11.9

-57.7 44.1 15.9 22.2

17.6 19.2 15.0 10.4

29.4 26.1 31.3 26.4

6.2 6.7 11.8 5.1

4.8 3.2 4.0 6.7

2007P I

15.1

14.8

15.1

10.3

11.2

6.6

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

26.2 18.3 0.1 0.7 11.7 42.8

179.8 116.5 -43.0 51.0 -28.8 26.2

17.8 11.9 6.3 -3.8 17.1 47.1

13.1 1.7 -5.0 -24.9 3.0 38.4

11.1 1.4 0.2 7.2 13.0 21.7

4.6 1.3 1.0 -2.9 1.5 6.2

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

-2.3 37.5 -0.6 15.3 12.3 35.1 -2.4 15.0 33.0 34.2 10.1 -4.5

-17.3 31.5 -77.6 -30.7 -16.9 165.1 -68.0 16.4 155.5 170.7 -51.2 -33.9

-1.5 37.8 20.3 18.6 14.1 25.1 6.2 14.9 23.7 15.3 15.0 2.0

-2.6 61.9 37.7 24.7 12.6 42.6 11.2 34.7 47.9 39.6 25.1 16.8

1.5 4.7 11.7 13.9 5.7 0.7 3.9 14.4 17.7 5.6 7.8 2.3

1.3 11.1 2.9 1.0 8.2 0.8 -6.4 5.1 13.9 3.1 10.3 6.7

2007 1 2P 3P

24.9 17.2 4.9

-3.5 75.7 -22.3

26.1 14.7 6.2

30.4 12.7 -7.3

15.4 12.8 6.4

10.4 6.8 3.3

P: Preliminary Source: Korea National Statistical Office

58

May 2007


7. Value of construction completed and domestic construction orders received See graphs 4-2 & 4-3 (billion won)

Period

2005 2006

Type of order

Value of construction completed (total)

Public

75,831 78,637

Type of order

Private

Domestic construction orders received (total)

Public

Private

23,031 23,470

50,144 52,623

83,489 91,001

21,825 20,460

58,975 66,550

2005

I II III IV

15,593 19,900 18,627 21,711

4,707 6,063 5,516 6,745

10,419 13,215 12,446 14,065

17,901 24,915 16,817 23,856

4,349 5,918 3,432 8,126

12,727 17,878 13,213 15,157

2006

I II III IV

16,254 19,849 19,520 23,014

4,158 5,709 6,010 7,593

11,561 13,510 12,918 14,633

16,377 21,249 23,049 30,327

3,807 4,147 4,159 8,347

12,227 16,801 18,074 19,447

2007P

I

17,308

4,920

11,807

20,678

5,683

14,893

2005

7 8 9 10 11 12

6,015 6,179 6,433 6,433 7,135 8,143

1,759 1,744 2,012 1,846 2,063 2,836

4,048 4,207 4,192 4,339 4,785 4,941

6,667 5,052 5,098 5,255 6,233 12,368

1,111 1,041 1,279 1,258 2,187 4,682

5,455 4,000 3,758 3,939 3,933 7,286

2006

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

4,977 4,902 6,376 6,354 6,461 7,034 5,873 6,286 7,361 6,826 7,533 8,655

1,291 1,218 1,649 1,790 1,841 2,078 1,724 1,890 2,396 2,192 2,271 3,130

3,525 3,521 4,515 4,375 4,415 4,720 3,989 4,229 4,701 4,435 5,009 5,189

5,846 4,515 6,017 5,266 6,744 9,239 7,123 5,808 10,118 5,245 9,031 16,051

901 1,518 1,388 1,229 1,403 1,515 987 785 2,387 1,609 2,796 3,941

4,809 2,893 4,525 3,992 5,249 7,560 6,020 4,598 7,457 3,503 6,101 9,843

2007

1 2P 3P

5,498 5,307 6,502

1,473 1,533 1,913

3,854 3,602 4,352

6,411 6,326 7,942

1,562 1,830 2,291

4,822 4,488 5,584

4.1 3.7

-3.7 1.9

7.5 4.9

7.3 9.0

-1.7 -6.3

14.5 12.8

Y-o-Y change (%) 2005 2006 2005

I II III IV

0.3 7.9 2.1 5.4

-3.9 0.4 -9.3 -2.2

2.0 11.6 7.3 8.2

19.1 36.7 13.1 -19.5

18.2 70.7 -5.0 -29.0

15.3 29.5 27.1 -6.9

2006

I II III IV

4.2 -0.3 4.8 6.0

-11.7 -5.8 9.0 12.6

11.0 2.2 3.8 4.0

-8.5 -14.7 37.1 27.1

-12.4 -29.9 21.2 2.7

-3.9 -6.0 36.8 28.3

2007P I

6.5

18.3

2.1

26.3

49.3

21.8

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

2.8 2.8 0.8 1.8 10.0 4.5

-4.2 -12.1 -11.1 -4.8 -4.4 1.3

5.7 9.4 6.9 4.2 16.5 4.5

4.3 16.2 23.7 -36.5 0.8 -18.6

-15.3 13.5 -7.5 -59.7 -2.9 -23.0

20.7 18.7 50.0 -18.2 2.5 -4.4

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

0.6 8.0 4.3 0.2 -0.8 -0.2 -2.4 1.7 14.4 6.1 5.6 6.3

-12.5 -13.5 -9.6 -6.4 -5.5 -5.6 -2.0 8.4 19.1 18.7 10.1 10.4

6.5 16.6 10.5 3.4 1.1 2.3 -1.4 0.5 12.1 2.2 4.7 5.0

10.9 29.0 -34.1 -17.7 -21.7 -6.8 6.8 15.0 98.5 -0.2 44.9 29.8

-34.6 158.0 -41.7 -35.8 -26.6 -27.6 -11.2 -24.6 86.6 27.9 27.9 -15.8

39.7 0.7 -29.4 -8.5 -18.6 7.0 10.4 14.9 98.4 -11.1 55.1 35.1

2007 1 2P 3P

10.5 8.3 2.0

14.1 25.9 16.0

9.3 2.3 -3.6

9.7 40.1 32.0

73.4 20.5 65.0

0.3 55.1 23.4

P: Preliminary Source: Korea National Statistical Office

Economic Bulletin

59


8. Composite indexes of business cycle indicators and BSI See graphs 13-1, 13-2 & 13-3

Y-o-Y change (%)

Coincident index (2000=100)

Cycle of coincident index (2000=100)

BSI (actual)

BSI (outlook)

118.2 118.7 118.8 119.1 119.5 119.6 119.6 119.4 119.4 119.8 119.9 120.3

5.0 5.2 5.1 5.1 5.0 4.8 4.4 3.8 3.3 3.1 2.6 2.4

123.4 124.2 124.5 124.9 125.1 125.3 125.3 125.2 125.4 126.0 126.3 126.7

101.3 101.5 101.3 101.2 101.0 100.7 100.3 99.8 99.5 99.5 99.4 99.3

90.7 95.3 104.2 101.7 90.2 86.8 83.8 81.2 93.4 92.2 82.2 80.9

99.8 104.9 113.6 104.3 113.2 92.1 86.4 86.4 95.5 99.2 90.3 82.2

2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

120.3 121.0 122.3 123.0 123.6 123.8 124.7 125.6 126.4 126.9 128.0 129.2

2.0 2.3 3.1 3.4 3.7 3.8 4.3 4.9 5.3 5.5 6.1 6.8

127.1 127.2 127.9 128.2 129.2 129.9 130.9 131.7 132.2 132.3 133.3 134.2

99.2 98.8 98.9 98.7 99.1 99.2 99.6 99.8 99.7 99.4 99.7 99.9

84.6 87.2 110.7 107.0 98.2 93.4 91.7 91.0 99.2 98.0 101.8 107.1

77.8 85.7 119.2 117.6 114.1 105.1 96.5 91.7 111.4 110.2 107.8 103.8

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

130.4 130.4 130.3 130.1 130.3 130.7 130.7 131.1 132.0 133.1 134.2 134.7

7.3 6.9 6.3 5.7 5.2 4.9 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.4 4.8 4.7

135.5 136.0 136.6 136.6 137.1 137.5 137.1 137.8 138.9 141.1 142.1 142.4

100.5 100.4 100.4 100.0 99.9 99.8 99.1 99.2 99.6 100.7 101.0 100.8

95.4 90.5 111.5 99.8 94.1 94.2 79.1 85.9 99.4 99.4 103.7 100.4

102.6 102.4 118.9 112.7 110.7 98.6 94.2 93.4 107.7 103.5 104.3 101.4

2007 1 2 3 4 5

135.1 135.9 136.3P -

4.7 4.9 4.9P -

142.7 143.4 143.7P -

100.6 100.7 100.4P -

85.6 87.5 109.4 105.8 -

96.5 93.4 112.3 107.7 110.9

Period

Leading index (2000=100)

2004 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

P: Preliminary Source: Korea National Statistical Office & The Federation of Korean Industries

60

May 2007


9. Balance of payments (I) See graphs 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 10-1 & 10-2 (million US$)

Period

2004 2005 2006P

Current balance

Goods trade balance

Exports

28,173.5 14,980.9 6,092.6

37,568.8 32,683.1 29,213.1

Imports

Services trade balance

Income trade balance

Current transfers

253,844.7 284,418.7 325,464.8

224,462.7 261,238.3 309,382.6

-8,046.1 -13,658.2 -18,762.9

1,082.8 -1,562.5 -538.6

-2,432.0 -2,481.5 -3,819.5

2004

I II III IV

6,418.4 6,856.6 7,565.4 7,333.1

8,585.4 10,060.7 9,752.9 9,169.8

59,298.9 63,974.7 61,633.9 68,937.1

52,797.5 55,269.7 54,707.8 61,687.7

-1,870.9 -1,358.1 -2,305.2 -2,511.9

497.6 -1,168.4 461.4 1,292.2

-793.7 -677.6 -343.7 -617.0

2005

I II III IV

5,263.5 2,352.1 2,198.2 5,167.1

8,750.5 8,365.8 7,234.8 8,332.0

66,807.6 69,702.8 71,097.7 76,810.7

60,626.8 63,694.9 66,228.3 70,688.3

-3,114.4 -3,368.7 -4,254.6 -2,920.5

166.4 -1,948.8 -97.3 317.2

-539.0 -696.2 -684.7 -561.6

2006P I II III IV

-1,118.4 692.0 374.9 6,144.1

5,222.6 7,413.7 6,227.9 10,349.5

73,885.0 81,473.4 82,712.8 87,393.7

72,542.1 76,719.7 80,215.8 79,905.1

-4,996.2 -3,878.9 -5,384.7 -4,503.1

-481.7 -1,648.0 608.6 982.5

-863.0 -1,194.8 -1,076.9 -684.8

2007P I

-1,519.4

6,180.7

84,816.4

82,026.8

-6,180.1

-689.6

-830.4

2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

3,682.3 781.4 799.8 -1,202.2 1,444.3 2,110.0 1,237.6 -527.9 1,488.5 2,830.3 2,056.8 280.0

4,356.6 1,489.1 2,904.8 2,233.7 2,558.5 3,573.6 3,052.7 1,472.4 2,709.7 3,477.0 3,187.2 1,667.8

22,454.0 20,401.1 23,952.5 22,872.5 23,122.7 23,707.6 23,235.5 23,343.0 24,519.2 25,352.7 25,826.2 25,631.7

19,450.0 18,396.9 22,779.9 21,244.5 21,161.8 21,288.6 21,508.8 22,000.8 22,718.7 22,652.7 23,849.6 24,186.0

-948.6 -1,008.4 -1,157.4 -1,053.6 -1,182.2 -1,132.9 -1,484.3 -1,696.6 -1,073.7 -610.0 -875.1 -1,435.4

498.0 447.7 -779.3 -2,121.9 296.5 -123.4 -91.6 -71.1 65.4 61.8 -80.4 335.8

-223.7 -147.0 -168.3 -260.4 -228.5 -207.3 -239.2 -232.6 -212.9 -98.5 -174.9 -288.2

2006P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

91.2 -782.8 -426.8 -1,608.1 1,359.6 940.5 -392.7 -638.3 1,405.9 1,759.9 4,237.5 146.7

1,478.2 837.3 2,907.1 1,883.9 2,815.3 2,714.5 1,619.4 1,443.2 3,165.3 2,685.5 5,712.6 1,951.4

23,257.9 23,787.0 26,840.1 25,590.1 27,934.5 27,948.8 25,774.4 27,287.2 29,651.2 28,016.0 30,602.3 28,775.4

23,089.3 23,507.8 25,945.0 24,485.8 26,210.4 26,023.5 25,549.7 27,029.5 27,636.6 25,621.8 26,765.1 27,518.2

-1,644.0 -1,808.2 -1,544.0 -1,345.7 -1,354.5 -1,178.7 -1,744.0 -2,087.3 -1,553.4 -1,192.8 -1,426.3 -1,884.0

571.4 418.9 -1,472.0 -1,876.5 387.1 -158.6 44.4 311.7 252.5 461.2 236.3 285.0

-314.3 -230.8 -317.9 -269.8 -488.3 -436.7 -312.5 -305.9 -458.5 -194.0 -285.1 -205.7

2007P 1 2 3

-428.1 402.1 -1,493.4

1,292.1 2,387.3 2,501.3

28,091.0 26,239.8 30,485.6

27,681.8 25,286.3 29,055.7

-1,943.4 -2,551.1 -1,685.6

547.1 850.7 -2,087.4

-323.9 -284.8 -221.7

P: Preliminary Source: The Bank of Korea & Korea Customs Service

Economic Bulletin

61


10. Balance of payments (II) See graph 10-3 (million US$) Changes in reserve assets

Errors and omissions

-1,752.8 -2,340.4 -3,033.3

-38,710.5 -19,805.8 -22,111.7

2,938.2 68.4 -2,599.6

Period

Capital & financial account

Direct investment

Portfolio investment

Other investment

Capital transfers & acquisition of non-financial assets

2004 2005 2006P

7,598.8 4,756.5 18,618.7

4,588.3 2,010.4 -3,483.5

8,619.3 -1,728.2 -22,543.6

-3,856.0 6,814.7 47,679.1

2004

I II III IV

3,980.6 -6,066.6 -1,137.1 10,821.9

-680.6 3,163.8 144.4 1,960.7

10,260.3 -757.0 1,621.2 -2,505.2

-5,226.3 -8,002.9 -2,514.9 11,888.1

-372.8 -470.5 -387.8 -521.7

-8,746.9 -4,005.5 -6,805.7 -19,152.4

-1,652.1 3,215.5 377.4 997.4

2005

I II III IV

4,141.5 2,257.6 -504.3 -1,138.3

-194.0 1,249.7 48.8 905.9

-1,278.2 -2,575.3 -147.5 2,272.8

6,125.5 4,247.5 256.8 -3,815.1

-511.8 -664.3 -662.4 -501.9

-9,513.7 -2,817.2 -2,300.1 -5,174.8

108.7 -1,792.5 606.2 1,146.0

2006P I II III IV

6,524.4 3,684.4 4,773.7 3,636.2

-1,306.7 780.4 -3,656.5 699.3

1,436.2 -14,176.7 -7,395.3 -2,407.8

7,083.8 17,880.6 16,479.6 6,235.1

-688.9 -799.9 -654.1 -890.4

-5,679.3 -4,315.7 -3,615.4 -8,501.3

273.3 -60.7 -1,533.2 -1,279.0

2007P I

4,838.2

-959.8

-10,147.0

16,759.1

-814.1

-3,998.3

679.5

2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

376.1 1,061.5 2,703.9 2,430.5 1,523.1 -1,696.0 -9.0 212.7 -708.0 -1,941.8 158.5 645.0

101.6 -255.4 -40.2 1,457.1 -231.1 23.7 -440.0 327.8 161.0 74.5 160.3 671.1

-1,489.7 1,864.5 -1,653.0 -972.8 -740.7 -861.8 2,579.4 -1,103.9 -1,623.0 -3,168.6 5,406.6 34.8

1,950.3 -401.7 4,576.9 2,182.9 2,730.5 -665.9 -1,936.8 1,209.2 984.4 1,319.8 -5,213.5 78.6

-186.1 -145.9 -179.8 -236.7 -235.6 -192.0 -211.6 -220.4 -230.4 -167.5 -194.9 -139.5

-2,874.5 -1,848.6 -4,790.6 -625.4 -1,636.7 -555.1 -873.2 -450.3 -976.6 -715.9 -2,518.6 -1,940.3

-1,183.9 5.7 1,286.9 -602.9 -1,330.7 141.1 -355.4 765.5 196.1 -172.6 303.3 1,015.3

2006P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

3,628.2 2,110.2 786.0 4,862.8 513.1 -1,691.5 1,730.1 1,234.9 1,808.7 -2,263.8 436.0 5,464.0

-319.4 190.4 -1,177.7 585.2 125.6 69.6 -114.2 -663.3 -2,879.0 -57.9 126.1 631.1

609.5 2,207.1 -1,380.4 -3,180.0 -7,880.1 -3,116.6 -3,669.2 -4,448.2 722.1 -614.1 -653.5 -1,140.2

3,561.3 -92.7 3,615.2 7,745.1 8,509.1 1,626.4 5,789.4 6,511.4 4,178.8 -1,328.7 1,286.9 6,276.9

-223.2 -194.6 -271.1 -287.5 -241.5 -270.9 -275.9 -165.0 -213.2 -263.1 -323.5 -303.8

-5,432.6 140.7 -387.4 -3,354.6 -495.6 -465.5 -686.0 -959.8 -1,969.6 -956.2 -2,695.1 -4,850.0

1,713.2 -1,468.1 28.2 99.9 -1,377.1 1,216.5 -651.4 363.2 -1,245.0 1,460.1 -1,978.4 -760.7

2007P 1 2 3

2,078.9 -404.0 3,163.3

-208.9 -687.6 -63.3

-1,404.0 -1,770.6 -6,972.4

4,046.8 2,257.5 10,454.8

-355.0 -203.3 -255.8

-2,350.7 -1,134.7 -512.9

699.9 1,136.6 -1,157.0

P: Preliminary Source: The Bank of Korea

62

May 2007


11. Prices See graphs 11-1, 11-2 & 11-3 (2000 = 100) Consumer prices (2005=100)

Producer prices

Export & import prices

Period All Items

Commodity

Service

Core

All items

Commodity

Export

Import

2004 2005 2006

97.3 100.0 102.2

96.9 100.0 101.5

97.7 100.0 102.7

97.7 100.0 101.8

107.6 109.9 112.4

107.2 109.8 112.6

92.9 86.7 85.1

108.9 112.0 118.0

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

100.0 100.3 100.8 100.6 100.2 100.5

99.8 100.3 101.5 101.1 99.7 100.4

100.1 100.3 100.3 100.3 100.5 100.7

100.0 100.1 100.2 100.2 100.2 100.4

109.9 110.2 110.8 111.0 110.4 110.2

109.8 110.3 111.0 111.2 110.3 109.9

87.5 87.0 88.8 89.1 86.4 85.0

114.3 116.5 118.8 118.6 115.5 114.8

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

101.1 101.3 101.9 102.0 102.2 102.0 102.4 103.0 103.3 102.8 102.3 102.6

101.1 101.1 101.1 101.3 101.6 101.0 101.5 103.0 103.1 101.8 100.7 101.2

101.1 101.4 102.3 102.5 102.6 102.7 103.0 103.1 103.4 103.4 103.4 103.6

100.6 100.8 101.4 101.5 101.9 101.9 102.1 102.2 102.2 102.2 102.3 102.5

110.9 110.9 111.0 111.8 112.5 112.5 113.0 113.9 114.2 113.1 112.5 112.6

110.7 110.7 110.9 111.9 112.8 112.9 113.5 114.7 114.9 113.3 112.4 112.5

83.8 82.5 83.3 83.6 84.7 86.2 87.1 89.1 87.3 85.9 84.1 83.6

115.0 113.7 114.3 117.2 119.7 120.7 123.3 125.3 119.1 116.9 115.1 115.4

2007 1 2 3 4

102.8 103.5 104.1 104.5

101.4 102.3 102.3 102.8

103.8 104.2 105.2 105.5

102.7 103.1 103.8 104.1

112.6 112.8 113.4 114.6

112.3 112.5 113.3 114.8

83.4 84.0 85.6 -

112.4 115.4 119.3 -

2004 2005 2006

3.6 2.8 2.2

4.2 3.2 1.5

3.1 2.4 2.7

2.9 2.3 1.8

6.1 2.1 2.3

7.5 2.4 2.6

6.2 -6.7 -1.9

10.2 2.9 5.3

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

2.6 2.0 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.6

3.2 1.7 2.9 2.7 2.8 3.6

2.0 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.9

2.1 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.9 1.8

2.0 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.1 1.7

2.3 1.6 1.6 1.7 0.9 1.6

-6.6 -9.3 -7.4 -8.5 -7.0 -3.1

3.6 2.7 6.3 3.1 5.6 10.2

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

2.2 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.5 2.2 2.1 2.1

2.5 1.6 1.2 1.0 1.8 2.0 1.7 2.7 1.6 0.7 1.0 0.8

2.0 2.3 2.3 2.7 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.8 3.1 3.1 2.9 2.9

1.3 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.8 1.9 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.1

2.1 1.7 1.4 1.5 2.6 3.2 2.8 3.4 3.1 1.9 1.9 2.2

2.3 1.7 1.3 1.3 2.8 3.9 3.4 4.0 3.5 1.9 1.9 2.4

-3.6 -4.9 -4.4 -4.0 0.6 1.3 -0.5 2.4 -1.7 -3.6 -2.6 -1.6

10.2 8.5 5.7 6.1 11.3 9.2 7.8 7.5 0.2 -1.4 -0.3 0.6

2007 1 2 3 4

1.7 2.2 2.2 2.5

0.3 1.2 1.2 1.5

2.7 2.8 2.8 2.9

2.1 2.3 2.4 2.6

1.5 1.7 2.2 2.5

1.4 1.6 2.2 2.6

-0.4 1.9 2.7 -

-2.3 1.5 4.4 -

Y-o-Y change (%)

Source: Korea National Statistical Office

Economic Bulletin

63


12. Employment and earnings See graphs 8-1, 8-2 & 8-3

Economically active persons (thous.) Period

Employed persons (thous.)

Unemployment (%)

All industry earnings (won) (base year=2000) Manufacturing

All industry Manufacturing S.O.C&service 2004 2005 2006

23,417 23,743 23,978

22,557 22,856 23,151

4,290 4,234 4,167

16,427 16,789 17,181

3.7 3.7 3.5

2,372,612 2,524,917 2,666,550

2,279,724 2,458,022 2,594,830

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

24,072 23,689 23,918 24,056 23,976 23,526

23,184 22,847 23,048 23,186 23,191 22,699

4,233 4,167 4,201 4,241 4,197 4,220

16,931 16,713 16,892 16,966 17,137 17,007

3.7 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.3 3.5

2,496,925 2,461,924 2,759,394 2,413,960 2,282,356 3,349,475

2,450,956 2,404,969 2,655,434 2,370,892 2,097,699 3,504,729

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

23,340 23,365 23,769 24,088 24,267 24,320 24,270 23,972 24,096 24,253 24,225 23,773

22,471 22,412 22,848 23,242 23,484 23,501 23,447 23,164 23,330 23,463 23,458 22,989

4,201 4,184 4,179 4,188 4,170 4,184 4,180 4,114 4.135 4,183 4,137 4,153

16,893 16,763 16,986 17,186 17,293 17,294 17,303 17,099 17,248 17,294 17,467 17,348

3.7 4.1 3.9 3.5 3.2 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.3

2,865,004 2,451,498 2,481,580 2,504,830 2,356,038 2,685,520 2,646,200 2,607,031 2,796,266 2,690,402 2,409,143 3,502,448

2,803,400 2,376,782 2,322,720 2,424,268 2,201,426 2,580,407 2,596,198 2,531,654 2,648,830 2,681,556 2,226,062 3,745,800

2007 1 2 3

23,580 23,536 23,960

22,729 22,674 23,121

4,156 4,139 4,119

17,221 17,114 17,371

3.6 3.7 3.5

2,627,540 3,013,449 -

2,425,973 3,056,645 -

Y-o-Y change (%) 2004 2005 2006

2.0 1.4 1.0

1.9 1.3 1.3

2.0 -1.3 -1.6

2.9 2.2 2.3

-

6.5 6.4 5.6

9.9 7.8 5.6

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

1.9 2.0 1.3 1.5 1.5 0.6

1.9 2.1 1.0 1.2 1.7 0.9

-1.8 -1.4 -2.2 -1.9 -2.5 -1.0

2.6 3.1 2.0 2.4 2.9 2.0

-

5.7 5.1 5.1 6.9 6.5 4.2

6.4 9.6 5.6 10.0 6.7 0.7

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1.2 1.3 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8 1.2 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.1

1.8 1.5 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.3

-1.2 -1.7 -2.2 -1.9 -1.9 -1.6 -1.2 -1.3 -1.6 -1.4 -1.4 -1.6

3.0 2.5 2.5 2.9 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.1 1.9 1.9 2.0

-

20.3 -7.7 5.5 5.3 7.9 4.1 6.0 5.9 1.3 11.5 5.6 4.6

24.1 -11.8 5.7 4.1 8.1 3.4 5.9 5.3 -0.2 13.1 6.1 6.9

2007 1 2 3

1.0 0.7 0.8

1.1 1.2 1.2

-1.1 -1.1 -1.4

1.9 2.1 2.3

-

-8.3 22.9 -

-13.5 28.6 -

Source: Korea National Statistical Office

64

May 2007


13. Financial indicators See graphs 9-1 & 9-4 (period average) Yields (%)

Stock

Period Call rate (1 day)

CD (91 days)

Corporate bonds (3 years, AA-)

Treasury bonds (3 years)

Treasury bonds (5 years)

KOSPI (end-period)

2004 1

3.8

4.3

5.7

4.9

5.2

848.50

2

3.8

4.1

5.6

4.8

5.1

883.40

3

3.8

3.9

5.4

4.6

4.9

880.50

4

3.8

3.9

5.3

4.5

4.9

862.80

5

3.8

3.9

5.1

4.4

4.8

803.80

6

3.8

3.9

4.9

4.3

4.6

785.80

7

3.8

3.9

4.8

4.2

4.5

735.30

8

3.6

3.7

4.4

3.8

4.0

803.60

9

3.5

3.5

4.1

3.6

3.8

835.10

10

3.5

3.5

4.0

3.5

3.7

834.80

11

3.3

3.4

3.9

3.4

3.5

878.10

12

3.3

3.4

3.7

3.3

3.4

895.90

2005 1

3.3

3.5

4.1

3.7

3.9

932.70

2

3.3

3.6

4.6

4.2

4.5

1,011.40

3

3.3

3.6

4.5

4.0

4.3

965.70

4

3.3

3.5

4.3

3.9

4.1

911.30

5

3.3

3.5

4.1

3.7

3.9

970.20

6

3.3

3.5

4.2

3.8

4.0

1,008.20

7

3.3

3.5

4.5

4.1

4.4

1,111.30

8

3.3

3.5

4.8

4.3

4.7

1,083.30

9

3.3

3.7

4.9

4.5

4.8

1,221.00

10

3.4

3.9

5.2

4.8

5.1

1,158.10

11

3.5

4.0

5.5

5.1

5.4

1,297.40

12

3.7

4.0

5.5

5.1

5.3

1,379.40

2006 1

3.7

4.2

5.5

5.0

5.3

1,399.80

2

3.9

4.3

5.3

4.9

5.0

1,371.60

3

4.0

4.3

5.3

4.9

5.1

1,359.60

4

4.0

4.3

5.2

5.0

5.2

1,419.70

5

4.0

4.4

5.1

4.8

4.9

1,371.70

6

4.2

4.5

5.2

4.9

5.0

1,295.70

7

4.2

4.6

5.2

4.9

5.0

1,297.80

8

4.4

4.7

5.1

4.8

4.8

1,352.70

9

4.5

4.6

5.0

4.7

4.8

1,371.40

10

4.5

4.6

4.9

4.6

4.7

1,364.60

11

4.5

4.6

5.1

4.7

4.8

1,432.20

12

4.5

4.8

5.2

4.8

4.9

1,434.50

2007 1

4.6

4.9

5.3

5.0

5.0

1,360.20

2

4.6

5.0

5.3

4.9

4.9

1,417.30

3

4.6

4.9

5.2

4.8

4.8

1,452.60

4

4.7

5.0

5.3

4.9

5.0

1,542.24

Source: The Bank of Korea

Economic Bulletin

65


14. Monetary indicators See graph 9-5 (period average)

Period

(billion won)

Reserve money

M1

M2

Lf

2004 2005 2006

37,272.4 38,785.2 41,664.0

306,842.5 332,902.1 330,134.1

929,640.6 993,960.1 1,076,682.4

1,260,547.1 1,348,818.8 1,454,858.8

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

38,103.3 38,630.0 39,864.5 39,732.8 39,461.4 40,319.5

346,659.4 346,984.8 347,135.3 339,969.4 307,025.1 318,419.2

1,004,960.2 1,008,802.0 1,008,223.6 1,008,215.2 1,011,582.7 1,021,591.6

1,361,474.7 1,366,592.7 1,371,084.6 1,374,836.2 1,381,692.7 1,393,063.7

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

41,336.0 41,655.5 40,991.9 41,190.0 40,734.4 40,715.1 41,973.7 40,287.2 41,500.4 43,199.9 41,507.4 44,876.4

327,542.1 326,548.3 325,711.9 324,222.6 323,908.4 326,949.2 330,267.7 325,958.2 327,648.4 333,597.5 337,666.0 351,588.5

1,027,697.4 1,034,711.9 1,042,293.6 1,048,598.6 1,055,855.4 1,072,886.5 1,082,577.5 1,084,752.6 1,098,444.2 1,110,360.9 1,123,714.6 1,138,295.5

1,398,707.3 1,407,971.3 1,413,306.8 1,421,447.5 1,430,748.5 1,445,440.3 1,460,729.4 1,468,210.0 1,479,577.9 1,494,767.6 1,510,883.0 1,526,516.2

2007 1 2 3

47,851.4 49,493.5 48,936.8

353,494.2 350,734.7 309,186.8

1,143,814.9 1,154,108.8 1,162,429.3

1,536,010.8 1,547,248.7 1,558,062.3

Y-o-Y change (%) 2004 2005 2006

4.2 4.1 7.4

8.3 8.5 -0.8

4.6 6.9 8.3

6.1 7.0 7.9

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

5.6 5.8 6.9 5.2 5.7 7.8

13.3 14.4 12.8 6.7 -1.1 -0.5

7.9 7.7 6.6 6.5 6.6 7.0

7.5 7.6 6.9 6.9 7.2 7.4

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

9.0 5.0 7.8 8.6 7.5 7.6 10.2 4.3 4.1 8.7 5.2 11.3

1.7 -0.8 -2.7 -3.0 -2.3 -3.0 -4.7 -6.1 -5.6 -1.9 10.0 10.4

7.3 7.2 6.6 6.8 7.1 7.7 7.7 7.5 9.0 10.1 11.1 11.4

7.2 7.4 7.0 7.4 76 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.9 8.7 9.4 9.6

2007 1 2 3

15.8 18.8 19.4

7.9 7.4 -5.1

11.3 11.5 11.5

9.8 9.9 10.2

P: Preliminary Source: The Bank of Korea

66

May 2007


15. Exchange rates See graphs 9-2 & 9-3

/US$

/100

/Euro

Period End-period

Average

End-period

Average

End-period

Average

2004 2005 2006

1,043.8 1,013.0 929.6

1,144.7 1,024.3 955.5

1,012.1 859.9 781.8

1,058.7 930.7 821.5

1,423.0 1,199.3 1,222.2

1,422.9 1,274.0 1,199.3

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

1028.3 1031.0 1038.0 1042.7 1036.3 1013.0

1,037.4 1,021.2 1,029.3 1,046.3 1,041.4 1,024.2

915.8 925.6 915.9 900.4 865.4 859.9

927.2 921.8 927.1 910.9 880.1 863.9

1,247.2 1,259.2 1,247.4 1,256.7 1,219.3 1,199.3

1,249.5 1,254.5 1,262.1 1,258.0 1,229.0 1,214.0

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

971.0 969.0 975.9 945.7 947.4 960.3 953.1 959.6 945.2 944.2 929.9 929.6

987.0 970.2 975.1 954.4 941.4 955.2 950.2 960.7 953.7 954.2 936.2 925.8

824.9 833.8 831.7 828.3 842.2 834.0 830.2 820.3 802.2 803.5 799.0 781.8

854.3 822.4 831.3 814.8 843.0 833.0 821.4 829.7 814.3 803.2 798.0 790.2

1,173.8 1,147.9 1,187.1 1,184.9 1,208.0 1,215.9 1,216.4 1,232.3 1,200.6 1,200.8 1,223.0 1,222.2

1,194.8 1,159.7 1,172.8 1,169.9 1,201.7 1,208.7 1,206.2 1,230.6 1,214.9 1,202.4 1,205.3 1,222.8

2007 1 2 3 4

940.9 938.3 940.3 929.4

936.4 937.0 943.3 931.5

773.1 793.9 797.0 778.3

778.0 776.8 804.8 783.7

1,220.1 1,241.9 1,253.9 1,266.9

1,217.0 1,225.1 1,249.4 1,257.7

Y-o-Y change (%) 2004 2005 2006

-12.9 -3.0 -8.2

-4.0 -10.5 -6.7

-9.6 -15.0 -9.1

2.8 -12.1 -11.7

-5.3 -15.7 1.9

5.5 -10.5 -5.9

2005 7 8 9 10 11 12

-12.0 -10.6 -9.6 -7.4 -1.1 -3.0

-10.4 -11.9 -10.3 -8.6 -4.6 -2.6

-12.1 -11.7 -11.4 -15.0 -15.0 -15.0

-12.5 -12.2 -11.3 -13.2 -15.5 -14.7

-11.3 -9.4 -11.9 -12.4 -12.3 -15.7

-12.1 -11.2 -9.9 -12.0 -13.2 -13.8

2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

-5.4 -3.9 -4.7 -5.7 -5.5 -6.3 -7.3 -6.9 -8.9 -9.5 -10.3 -8.2

-4.9 -5.1 -3.2 -5.6 -6.1 -5.5 -8.4 -5.9 -7.4 -8.8 -10.1 -9.6

-16.7 -12.9 -12.7 -12.3 -9.3 -10.1 -9.3 -11.4 -12.4 -10.8 -7.7 -9.1

-15.1 -15.6 -13.2 -13.6 -10.3 -10.4 -11.4 -10.0 -12.2 -11.8 -9.3 -8.5

-12.2 -14.0 -10.3 -8.4 -3.5 -1.8 -2.5 -2.1 -3.8 -4.5 0.3 1.9

-12.4 -13.1 -11.7 -10.6 -5.5 -1.7 -3.5 -1.9 -3.7 -4.4 -1.9 0.7

2007 1 2 3 4

-3.1 -3.2 -3.7 -1.7

-5.1 -3.4 -3.3 -2.4

-6.3 -4.8 -4.2 -6.0

-8.9 -5.5 -3.2 -3.8

3.9 8.2 5.6 6.9

1.9 5.6 6.5 7.5

Source: The Bank of Korea

Economic Bulletin

67



Editor-in-Chief Kang, Ho-In (MOFE) Editorial Board Song, Kyung-Jin (MOFE) Kim, Dong-Yule (KDI) Shim, Jae-Hak (KDI) Coordinators Baek, Yoon-Jin (MOFE) Kang, Ji-Eun (KDI) Assistant Editors Huh, Bo-Young (MOFE) Kim, Jin-Mi (KDI) Baek, So-Myung (KDI)

Useful Internet Websites Economy-related Websites Recommended

Ministry of Finance and Economy http://english.mofe.go.kr Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy http://english.mocie.go.kr Ministry of Planning and Budget http://www.mpb.go.kr/english.html Financial Supervisory Commission/Financial Supervisory Service http://www.fsc.go.kr/eng Fair Trade Commission http://www.ftc.go.kr/eng Ministry of Labor http://english.molab.go.kr Bank of Korea http://www.bok.or.kr Korea National Statistical Office http://www.nso.go.kr/eng/index.html



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