201004 by KOCIS

Vol. 32 | No. 4

Republic of Korea

Economic Bulletin The Green Book : Current Economic Trends Overview

1. Global economy

2. Private consumption

3. Facility investment

4. Construction investment

5. Exports and imports

6. Mining and manufacturing production

7. Service sector activity

8. Employment

9. Financial markets 9.1 Stock market 9.2 Exchange rate 9.3 Bond market 9.4 Money supply & money market

10. Balance of payments

11. Prices and international commodity prices 11.1 Prices 11.2 International oil and commodity prices

12. Real estate market 12.1 Housing market 12.2 Land market

13. Composite indices of business cycle indicators

Policy Issues New national accounting system to take hold in three years

Economic News Briefing

Statistical Appendices

The Green Book Current Economic Trends

Overview The Korean economy continued a recovery track, as major economic indicators such as production, domestic demand, exports, and employment showed steady improvement amid stabilizing prices. Mining and manufacturing production in February rose 3.6 percent month-on-month and 19.1 percent year-on-year, thanks to robust exports and domestic demand. Service output improved 3.1 percent month-on-month and 7.1 percent year-on-year in line with an increase in educational services and information & communication services. Consumer goods sales increased 1.8 percent month-on-month and 12.9 percent year-on-year in February, as the lunar new year holidays and corporate incentive payment positively affected sales of durable and non-durable goods. In February facilities investment, led by machinery investment, grew both month-on-month and year-on-year by 7.8 percent and 18.0 percent, respectively. Construction completed fell both month-on-month and year-on-year by 3.9 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, due to poor performance in building construction and civil engineering works. The total number of workers hired in February gained 125,000 year-on-year, led by an employment increase in the manufacturing and service sectors. The employment rate (seasonally adjusted) posted 58.3 percent, adding 0.1 percentage point month-on-month, while the unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) landed at 4.4 percent, shedding 0.4 percentage points. Exports jumped 35.1 percent year-on-year in March, helped by the recovering global economy. Imports, backed by a hike in raw materials and capital goods, soared 48.4 percent year-on-year. The consumer price increase in March stabilized at 2.3 percent, as manufactured goods prices and service fees remained steady while prices of petroleum, agriculture, livestock and fishery products went up. In March, the financial market saw stock prices increase and foreign exchange rates fall, backed by foreign investorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; net buying of domestic stocks amid easing concerns over the Greek fiscal crisis and rising expectations of global economic recovery. To sum up, although the Korean economy stays on an upward track amid the global economy steadily recovering, external uncertainties still exist from fiscal difficulties in some European countries, discord between the US and China over trade imbalance, and rising prices of raw materials including oil and steel. The Korean government, to achieve a secure economic recovery, will hold on to current policies, while renewing its efforts to create jobs and support the working class. On the other hand, the government will examine more closely any possible risks at home and abroad, and steadily work towards improving Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic structure, with on-going corporate restructuring among others. Economic Bulletin

1. Global economy The global economy has been recovering moderately, as consumption, production, and employment improved in the US, China, and Asian developing countries. However, recovery of the eurozone economy is still slow, due to growing concerns about Europe’s fiscal deficit amid Portugal’s sovereign credit rating cut on March 24 and Iceland’s on March 31.

US real GDP grew 5.6 percent (annualized q-o-q, final) in the fourth quarter of 2009, while consumption and employment increased from the beginning of 2010. The economic recovery clearly took hold as industrial production and retail sales expanded in February from the previous month and the ISM manufacturing index hit a six-year high of 59.6. The US housing market was negatively affected in February by the cold wave and the Fed’s MBS (Mortgage-Backed Security) purchase expiration on March 31, as existing and new home sales fell month-on-month by 0.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Job markets improved in March, as the unemployment rate stayed flat at 9.7 percent and non-farm payroll increase reached an all-time high of 162,000 since March 2007. Unemployment rate (%) 10.1 (Oct 2009)

10.0 (Nov)

10.0 (Dec)

9.7 (Jan 2010)

9.7 (Feb)

9.7 (Mar)

The Federal Reserve announced in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on March 16 that the Fed would maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at zero to 0.25 percent, and close all the remaining special liquidity facilities, excluding TALF (Term AssetBacked Securities Loan Facility) scheduled to end on June 30. (Percentage change from previous period) 2008

Real GDP

- Personal consumption expenditure - Corporate fixed investment - Construction investment for housing Industrial production

2009

2010

Annual

Jan

Feb

0.4

-5.4

-2.4

-6.4

-0.7

2.2

5.6

-0.2

-3.1

-0.6

0.6

-0.9

2.8

1.6

-19.5

-17.9

-39.2

-9.6

-5.9

5.3

-22.9

-23.2

-20.4

-38.2

-23.3

18.9

3.8

-1.8

-3.4

-9.8

-5.2

-2.7

1.6

0.9

0.1

-0.8

-6.8

-6.0

-1.3

-0.1

1.6

1.8

0.1

0.3

New home sales

-37.4

-15.0

-22.8

-13.5

9.9

9.2

-8.9

-8.7

-2.2

New non-farm payroll employment (thousand)2

-302

-652

-395

-753

-477

-261

-90

-14

3.8

1.5

-0.3

-0.2

-0.9

-1.6

1.5

2.6

2.1

Retail sales

Consumer prices (y-o-y, %) 1. Annualized rate (%) 2. Monthly average Source: US Department of Commerce

April 2010

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

China

As the Chinese economy saw domestic demand continue to increase and exports grow substantially, the consequent increase in liquidity fueled concerns about hikes in real estate and consumer prices. The Chinese government announced in the National People’s Congress on March 5 that it would maintain its “proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy,” thereby expanding domestic demand. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2008 Annual

Real GDP

2009 Q4

Annual

2010 Q3

Jan

Feb 1

9.0

6.8

8.7

6.2

7.9

9.1

10.7

Fixed asset investment (accumulated)

26.1

30.5

28.6

33.6

33.3

30.5

26.6

Retail sales

21.6

20.6

15.5

14.9

15.0

15.4

16.9

17.9

Industrial production

12.9

6.4

11.0

5.1

9.2

12.4

18.0

20.7

Exports

17.2

4.1

-15.9

-19.7

-23.5

-20.7

0.2

21.0

45.7

Consumer prices

5.9

2.5

-0.7

-0.6

-1.5

-1.3

0.7

1.5

2.7

Producer prices

6.9

2.5

-5.4

-4.6

-7.2

-7.7

-2.1

4.3

5.4

Source: China National Bureau of Statistics 1. January-February average for fixed asset investment, retail sales and industrial production

Japan

Japan’s economy grew 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2009, staying on a slightly upward track, as exports and domestic consumption improved. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9 percent in February, showing signs of stabilizing job markets, while consumer prices continued to decline. (Percentage change from previous period) 2008 Annual

2009 Q4

Annual

2010

Jan

Feb

Real GDP

-0.7

-2.7

-5.2

-3.6

1.5

-0.1

0.9

Industrial and mining production

-3.4

-11.3

-22.3

-22.1

8.3

7.4

4.5

2.7

-0.9

Retail sales (y-o-y, %) Exports (y-o-y, %) Consumer prices (y-o-y, %)

0.3

-1.5

-2.2

-3.9

-0.9

-3.4

-0.7

2.3

4.2

-3.5

-23.1

-33.1

-46.9

-38.5

-34.4

-8.0

40.9

45.3

1.4

1.0

-1.4

-0.1

-1.0

-2.2

-2.0

-1.3

-1.1

Source: Japan's Statistics Bureau and Statistics Centre

Eurozone

Eurozone’s economic recovery was delayed by continuing low employment which reached 10.0 percent in February, amid uncertainties still existing including Portugal’s sovereign credit rating cut. Greece’ sovereign debt concerns were relieved to some extent, as European leaders agreed to provide a joint Europe-IMF bailout to Greece at the EU summit held on March 25-26. (Percentage change from previous period) 2008

2009

2010

Annual

Jan

Feb

0.8

-1.9

-4.0

-2.5

-0.1

0.4

0.1

Industrial production

-1.8

-6.0

-14.7

-7.4

-2.7

0.7

1.9

1.5

Retail sales

-0.2

-1.5

-2.8

-1.0

-0.3

-0.2

0.0

-0.2

Exports (y-o-y, %)

3.7

-4.9

-18.1

-21.1

-23.2

-19.3

-8.3

4.6

Consumer prices (y-o-y, %)

3.3

2.3

0.3

1.0

0.2

-0.4

0.4

1.0

0.9

Real GDP

Source: Eurostat

April 2010

1-4

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GDP and fixed asset investment Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China

1-5

Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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

2. Private consumption Private consumption (preliminary GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2009 increased 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter and 5.8 percent year-on-year. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2007

Private consumption

(Seasonally adjusted)

1. Preliminary 2. National accounts Source: The Bank of Korea

2008

20091

Annual

5.1

1.3

1.8

-3.6

0.2

-4.4

-1.0

0.7

5.8

0.1

-4.5

0.3

3.3

1.7

0.4

3. Percentage change from previous period

Consumer goods sales in February 2010 was up 1.8 percent month-on-month, due to brisk sales of durable and non-durable goods, while jumping 12.9 percent year-on-year. On a month-on-month basis, both durable goods sales such as home appliances and computer & communications devices and non-durable goods sales such as vehicle fuels expanded 3.4 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively, whereas semi-durable goods sales fell 1.4 percent. On a year-on-year basis, consumer goods sales picked up due to a low base effect from the same period of the previous year and in particular, an increase in durable goods sales such as automobiles. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2008 Annual Consumer goods sales (Seasonally adjusted) - Durable goods

2009

2010

Annual

1.1

-4.2

2.6

-4.7

1.5

2.8

-3.6

1.0

5.1

1.6

-9.6

8.1

-11.9

Dec

Jan

Feb1

10.8

12.7

6.8

12.9

0.3

4.1

1.2

-1.3

1.8

5.7

7.9

33.9

45.8

39.7

21.3

-3.5

-21.0

21.8

-20.6

20.1

24.1

76.9

92.0

73.0

34.6

- Semi-durable goods4

-3.0

-10.7

0.3

-1.5

-0.6

-0.7

3.4

7.2

4.7

3.1

- Non-durable goods

1.4

0.2

1.2

-1.4

0.5

1.9

4.1

1.5

-5.2

12.4

Automobiles

1. Preliminary 2. Percentage change from previous period 3. Durable goods: Automobiles, electronic appliances, furniture, telecommunications devices, etc. 4. Semi-durable goods: Clothing, footwear, etc. 5. Non-durable goods: Food, medicine, cosmetics, fuel, tobaccos, etc. Source: Statistics Korea

Sales at department stores continued an upward march for the tenth consecutive month thanks to the lunar new year holidays, while those at large discounters rebounded substantially. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2008

- Department stores - Large discounters - Specialized retailers

2009 Q4

Annual

Dec

Jan1

Feb1

1.2

-4.3

3.3

-0.8

0.4

4.2

9.1

14.7

6.5

17.3

2.5

-1.0

-2.0

-4.4

-2.9

-3.4

3.2

5.4

-9.3

27.9

-1.8

-8.2

2.9

-6.6

2.6

3.5

12.6

14.1

10.7

7.7

1. Preliminary 2. Specialized retailers are defined as stores carrying a few (1 to 3) specialized items. Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

2010

Annual

2-1

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

2-2

Consumer goods sales Source: Statistics Korea (industrial activity trend)

2-3

Consumer goods sales by type Source: Statistics Korea (industrial activity trend)

Economic Bulletin

Consumer goods sales in March, while increasing year-on-year, is projected to slow down from a month earlier, given low estimates of advanced indicators such as retailersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sales, bad weather conditions and a high base effect from the previous month. Domestic credit card spending was up 19.1 percent year-on-year, slightly decelerating from the previous month. Sales at department stores and large discounters fell sharply due to a drop in bargain sale days. Domestic sales of Korean automobiles remained brisk, despite the expiration of the tax break for new car purchases at the end of 2009, while gasoline sales continued to rise for a second consecutive month in March. Value of credit card use (y-o-y, %) 9.4 (Oct 2009)

18.3 (Nov)

20.0 (Dec)

20.2 (Jan 2010)

21.2 (Feb)

19.1 (Mar)

Department store sales (y-o-y, %) 11.4 (Oct 2009)

6.4 (Nov)

12.5 (Dec)

4.8 (Jan 2010)

15.2 (Feb)

4.1 (Mar)

-13.4 (Jan 2010)

30.8 (Feb)

1.1 (Mar)

Discount store sales (y-o-y, %) 4.5 (Oct 2009)

-2.8 (Nov)

3.9 (Dec)

Domestic sales of Korean automobiles (y-o-y, %) 23.8 (Oct 2009)

83.6 (Nov)

79.9 (Dec)

61.7 (Jan 2010)

21.3 (Feb)

29.6 (Mar)

Domestic sales of gasoline (y-o-y, %) 20.7 (Oct 2009)

-3.0 (Nov)

-4.5 (Dec)

-0.6 (Jan 2010)

8.3 (Feb)

6.9 (Mar)

Source: Ministry of Knowledge Economy The Credit Finance Association Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association Korea National Oil Corporation Ministry of Strategy and Finance (for February data)

Despite temporary seasonal adjustment, private consumption is expected to continue to increase, backed by a recently improving employment trend, stabilizing consumer prices and financial markets, and growing consumer sentiment. Number of workers hired (y-o-y, ten thousand) 1.0 (Oct 2009)

-1.0 (Nov)

-1.6 (Dec)

0.5 (Jan 2010)

12.5 (Feb)

Consumer prices (y-o-y, %) 2.4 (Nov 2009)

2.8 (Dec)

3.1 (Jan 2010)

2.7 (Feb)

2.3 (Mar)

KOSPI (month-end) 1,556 (Nov 2009)

1,683 (Dec)

1,602 (Jan 2010)

1,595 (Feb)

1,693 (Mar)

1,158 (Feb)

1,131 (Mar)

Won/dollar exchange rate (month-end) 1,167 (Nov 2009)

1,168 (Dec)

1,157 (Jan 2010)

Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI, base=100) 117 (Oct 2009)

April 2010

113 (Nov)

113 (Dec)

113 (Jan 2010)

111 (Feb)

110 (Mar)

2-4

Department store and discount store sales (current value) Source: Ministry of Knowledge Economy (monthly retail sales)

2-5

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

2-6

Consumer sentiment index Source: The Bank of Korea

Economic Bulletin

3. Facility investment Facility investment (preliminary GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2009 posted a quarter-onquarter increase of 5.3 percent, and a year-on-year gain of 13.3 percent. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2007

2008

20091

Annual

9.3

-1.0

2.8

2.0

5.3

-13.3

-9.1

-23.1

-17.3

-7.0

13.3

0.4

1.2

-1.0

-13.9

-10.5

9.0

10.8

5.3

- Machinery

9.2

-1.8

-0.9

0.9

8.0

-14.4

-13.0

-23.2

-21.5

-14.8

10.0

- Transportation equipment

9.6

1.8

17.5

5.9

-3.8

-9.8

4.7

-22.6

-2.9

22.9

24.2

Facility investment2 (Seasonally adjusted) 3

1. Preliminary 2. National accounts Source: The Bank of Korea

3. Percentage change from previous period

Facility investment in February 2010 rose 7.8 percent month-on-month and 18.0 percent year-on-year on the back of an increase in machinery investments including those in semiconductor equipment. (Percentage change from same period in previous year)

Facility investment (Seasonally adjusted)

- Machinery

2007

2008

Annual

Annual1

2009 Q3

Dec

Jan1

2010 Feb1

8.2

-3.0

-8.0

-17.9

-12.9

-10.0

10.2

21.1

19.4

18.0

-10.2

5.6

2.4

13.9

5.9

-10.6

7.8

7.5

-4.2

-12.9

-22.1

-18.9

-17.0

8.8

19.5

13.5

25.7

11.3

2.1

12.0

0.1

11.8

20.0

15.5

27.4

43.2

-5.5

20.6

-13.8

-11.8

-35.5

-17.7

3.4

20.0

21.2

11.2

-3.1

- Public

-11.4

5.0

61.7

150.8

29.9

280.2

-27.2

-44.5

-27.1

-79.4

- Transportation equipment Domestic machinery orders

- Private

24.5

-15.5

-19.9

-44.8

-22.3

-16.0

35.2

52.4

17.8

30.9

- Machinery imports

22.1

6.4

-16.6

-27.9

-27.4

-15.9

-7.2

24.7

34.2

33.6

Facility investment adjustment pressure3

1.7

-1.7

-4.0

-19.1

-8.9

1.2

12.8

31.5

34.4

15.0

1. Preliminary 2. Percentage change from previous period 3. Production growth rate minus production capacity growth rate in the manufacturing sector (%p) Sources: Statistics Korea & The Korea International Trade Association

Facility investment in March is expected to continue an upward trend, given improving corporate investment confidence amid the economic recovery, growing machinery imports, and high pressure on facilities investment adjustment.

2009

Business survey indices (base=100) for manufacturing facility investment projections Source: The Bank of Korea

April 2010

2010

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

103

101

103

104

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: Statistics Korea (industrial activity trend)

3-3

Machinery imports Source: Korea International Trade Association (KITA)

Economic Bulletin

4. Construction investment Construction investment (preliminary GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2009 rose 5.0 percent year-on-year, while falling 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2007

Construction investment (Seasonally adjusted)

- Civil engineering works

20091

Annual

1.4

-2.8

-2.5

-0.5

0.4

-7.7

4.4

2.8

5.1

4.4

5.0

-4.2

-0.4

0.7

-3.3

5.9

1.8

-0.7

-0.1

-0.0

-4.6

-1.0

-0.8

0.2

-14.8

-1.8

-9.6

-2.4

1.2

2.5

3.8

-0.2

-5.1

-0.2

0.8

1.6

13.3

26.1

15.7

9.7

7.5

- Building construction

2008

1. Preliminary 2. National accounts 3. Percentage change from previous period Source: The Bank of Korea

Construction completed (constant value) in February fell 3.9 percent month-on-month, and 2.4 percent year-on-year, due to a high base effect in building construction from the previous month and weak performance in civil engineering works, affected by the completion of large-scale private plant construction. By construction category, building construction completed dropped 3.9 percent year-on-year, while civil engineering works completed down 0.5 percent. (Percentage change from same period in previous year)

Construction completed(constant value) (Seasonally adjusted)

2007

2008

Annual

3.4

-8.1

1.7

-5.4

4.5

1.8

5.0

12.7

3.5

-2.4

9.4

3.5

-5.3

-1.3

0.8

7.8

-3.9

3.2

-10.3

-6.5

-15.5

-6.5

-5.1

0.7

7.4

4.6

-3.9

- Building construction

2009 1

2010 1

Dec

Jan

Feb1

4.6

2.2

-5.7

13.4

25.9

15.4

11.4

19.3

2.1

-0.5

23.6

-7.6

3.0

-12.0

-1.1

7.6

11.6

-19.6

17.1

-6.7

- Public

40.3

10.0

60.9

33.1

182.9

78.9

11.6

-33.9

-14.7

-23.5

- Private

16.5

-14.3

-21.9

-37.3

-60.2

-14.3

17.3

-9.6

49.4

4.7

13.3

-20.1

-12.9

-31.6

-32.7

-4.6

13.1

42.7

33.3

42.3

- Civil engineering works Construction orders (current value)

Building permit Area

1. Preliminary 2. Percentage change from previous period Source: Statistics Korea & The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs

Construction investment in March is expected to be negatively affected by sluggish building construction due to a rise in unsold houses and a lack of sales confidence, despite increasing public investment in civil engineering works.

2009

Business survey indices (base=100) for construction projections Source: The Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea

April 2010

2010

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

90.1

83.6

74.8

91.4

88.9

4-1

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

4-2

Construction completed and housing construction Source: Statistics Korea (construction completed) Kookmin Bank (housing construction)

4-3

Leading indicators of construction investment Source: Statistics Korea (construction orders) Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (building construction permit area)

Economic Bulletin

5. Exports and imports Exports in March rose 35.1 percent year-on-year to US$37.69 billion. Exports grew at a faster pace from the previous month’s 30.5 percent, as major export markets such as the US and China continued to recover. Average daily exports fell to US$1.57 billion from the previous month’s US$1.62 billion, whereas those excluding vessels rose from the previous month’s US$1.37 billion to US$1.43 billion. By export category, semiconductors (up 123.8%) and automobiles (up 62.5%) soared, and by regional category, exports to China (up 51.4%) and ASEAN (up 47.6%) jumped. (US$ billion) 2009

Exports (y-o-y, %) Average daily exports Imports (y-o-y, %) Average daily imports

2010

Annual

Mar

Jan

Feb

Mar

363.53

74.42

90.36

94.78

103.97

27.89

101.64

30.82

33.14

37.69

-13.9

-25.2

-21.1

-17.6

11.7

-22.5

36.6

45.8

30.5

35.1

1.30

1.10

1.30

1.32

1.49

1.16

1.52

1.37

1.62

1.57

323.09

71.42

73.97

84.85

92.85

23.92

98.01

31.45

31.06

35.49

-25.8

-32.7

-35.6

-31.0

1.4

-35.5

37.2

26.3

37.5

48.4

1.16

1.06

1.18

1.33

1.00

1.46

1.40

1.52

1.48

Source: Korea Customs Service

Imports in March jumped 48.4 percent year-on-year to US$35.49 billion. Non-ferrous metals (up 82.3%), crude oil (up 81.5%) and petroleum products (up 41.4%) posted a significant increase, due to the recovering economy and a price rise in raw materials. Average daily imports edged down from the previous month’s US$1.52 billion to US$1.48 billion. Imports of capital goods, raw materials and consumer goods expanded greatly year-on-year. Raw materials (y-o-y, %) -39.3 (Q3, 2009)

-2.3 (Q4); 25.5 (Jan 2010)

42.7 (Feb)

51.1 (Mar)

Capital goods (y-o-y, %) -13.7 (Q3, 2009)

8.2 (Q4); 30.1 (Jan 2010)

30.0 (Feb)

49.1 (Mar)

30.3 (Feb)

32.5 (Mar)

Consumer goods (y-o-y, %) -20.9 (Q3, 2009)

4.6 (Q4); 21.3 (Jan 2010)

The trade balance in March posted a surplus of US$2.19 billion, widening a surplus from the previous month. (US$ billion) 2009

Trade Balance Source: Korea Customs Service

April 2010

2010

Annual

Mar

Jan

Feb

Mar

40.45

3.0

16.39

9.94

11.12

3.97

3.64

-0.64

2.08

2.19

5-1

Exports (customs clearance basis) Source: Korea Customs Service & Ministry of Knowledge Economy (export and import trend)

5-2

Imports (customs clearance basis) Source: Korea Customs Service & Ministry of Knowledge Economy (export and import trend)

5-3

Trade balance Source: Korea Customs Service & Ministry of Knowledge Economy (export and import trend)

Economic Bulletin

6. Mining and manufacturing production Mining and manufacturing production increased 3.6 percent month-on-month in February, the largest since September 2009, while rising 19.1 percent year-on-year. By business category, semiconductors and parts (up 10.9%), and automobiles (up 10.5%) grew month-on-month, while audio visual communication equipment (down 7.4%) and miscellaneous transportation equipment (down 5.9%) fell. Shipments, led by domestic consumption and exports, continued to improve, posting a 14.3 percent increase year-on-year, while inventory rose 4.7 percent, picking up for the first time in 14 months since January 2009. By business category, the shipments of semiconductors and parts (up 41.5%), and automobiles (up 32.4%) increased year-on-year, while those of leather and shoes (down 15.9%) declined. The inventories of semiconductors and parts (up 42.1%), and automobiles (up 10.8%) rose year-on-year, while those of apparels and fur (down 34.6%), and primary metals (down 4.7%) fell. The average operation ratio of the manufacturing sector rose 1.6 percentage points from the previous month, landing at 80.5 percent, the highest level since April 2008. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) 2008 Annual Production (q-o-q, m-o-m)

Mining and manufacturing activity2

2009 Annual

2010

Feb

Dec

Jan

Feb1

6.9

1.3

1.8

2.4

0.0

3.6

(y-o-y)

3.4

-0.8

4.3

16.2

18.1

34.2

36.9

19.1

- Manufacturing

3.4

-0.9

4.4

16.8

18.8

36.0

38.9

19.8

3.4

7.8

13.2

46.3

-14.9

89.3

63.3

39.8

9.1

-6.8

15.8

14.7

-20.0

58.8

83.0

32.5

2.6

-1.7

2.1

12.8

15.5

26.2

32.0

14.3

-0.4

-1.8

3.4

12.3

13.9

26.3

30.6

12.6

ICT

Automobiles Shipment - Domestic demand - Exports

7.2

-1.7

0.4

13.3

17.5

26.1

34.0

24.8

Inventory4

7.1

-8.0

-14.2

-8.0

-14.6

-8.0

-3.7

4.7

Manufacturing Average operation ratio (%) activity Production capacity

77.5

74.6

78.8

78.4

78.2

79.6

78.9

80.5

5.1

3.1

3.2

4.0

3.9

4.5

4.8

1. Preliminary 2. Including mining, manufacturing, electricity and gas industry 3. Information and Communication Technology 4. End-period Source: Statistics Korea

Mining and manufacturing production in March is projected to be affected by growing exports and inventories, led by semiconductors and parts, and automobiles, while the month-on-month increase is expected to be limited due to a high base effect from the previous month, which saw a significant increase.

April 2010

6-1

Industrial production Source: Statistics Korea (industrial activity trend)

6-2

Average manufacturing operation ratio Source: Statistics Korea (industrial activity trend)

6-3

Inventory Source: Statistics Korea (industrial activity trend)

Economic Bulletin

7. Service sector activity Service activity in February 2010 increased 3.1 percent from a month earlier on the back of robust educational services and information & communication services. By business category, educational services (up 24.1%), information & communication services (up 6.9%) and professional, scientific & technical services (up 6.3%) led the monthon-month increase in service activity. On the other hand, finance & insurance services fell 3.1 percent from the previous month. (Percentage change from same period in previous year) Weight

2008

2009

2010

Annual

Dec

Jan1

Feb1

-0.3

2.4

1.9

3.7

7.2

4.3

7.1

Service activity index

100

3.6

0.0

2.0

- Wholesale & retail

22.0

1.3

-4.7

-0.4

-4.8

-2.2

0.3

5.4

8.9

5.5

9.1

- Transportation services

9.0

4.3

-3.2

-6.6

-12.7

-10.0

-4.8

1.4

4.8

11.6

13.9

- Hotels & restaurants

7.8

0.7

-3.0

-1.5

-2.6

-0.6

-2.5

-0.2

3.6

3.0

-0.9

- Information & communication services

8.4

3.3

-0.8

0.7

-1.4

1.6

1.4

1.8

2.4

-1.3

2.9

- Financial & insurance services

15.3

9.7

4.5

8.0

6.9

10.3

9.0

5.7

7.7

9.3

3.8

- Real estate & renting

6.3

-2.1

-7.5

5.3

-4.2

-2.2

6.7

21.3

25.2

8.3

11.0

- Professional, scientific & technical activities

4.8

2.0

0.9

1.0

-1.7

3.8

0.0

2.0

8.7

-0.4

4.8

- Business services

2.9

4.4

0.0

-3.0

-4.9

-6.2

-0.8

0.0

1.2

2.7

6.4

- Educational services

10.8

1.7

7.4

2.8

9.4

16.5

-3.7

-9.6

-3.3

-12.1

14.1

- Healthcare & social welfare services

6.0

8.7

10.4

8.9

10.4

13.2

14.9

11.4

11.6

- Entertainment, cultural & sports services

2.9

2.2

3.3

-0.5

1.4

0.7

0.0

-3.8

2.6

3.4

-6.2

- Membership organizations

3.8

0.1

-1.0

-2.4

-3.8

-4.8

-1.4

2.4

9.1

0.6

0.0

- Sewerage & waste management

0.4

5.8

4.0

3.7

0.1

9.0

6.0

-0.2

0.3

5.4

3.7

1. Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea

Service activity in March is expected to continue the year-on-year growth considering retailersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sales, credit card spending and consumer sentiment. The month-on-month change in service output, however, is likely to be significantly affected by a high base effect. Value of credit card use (y-o-y, %) 18.3 (Nov 2009)

20.0 (Dec)

20.2 (Jan 2010)

21.2 (Feb)

19.1 (Mar)

Consumer sentiment index (base=100) 117 (Oct 2009)

April 2010

113 (Nov)

113 (Dec)

113 (Jan 2010)

111 (Feb)

110 (Mar)

l es

tate

ncia

& re

ranc

e se

bus iness f ines acil s su ity m ppo ana rt se gem rvic ent es & Edu cati ona l se rvic es Hea serv lthcare ices & s ocia l we lfar e Ente serv rtainm ices ent , cu ltur al & spo Me rts othe mbersh r pe ip o rson rgan al s izati ervi ons Sew ces , re pair reco erage, & very was & re te m med ana iatio gem n ac ent, tivit mate ies rials

atio

rvic

unic

omm

rant

tail

insu

stau

tion

& re

ion

& re

ntin g Prof e s tech sion nica al, s l se cien rvic tifi c& es Bus

Rea

Fina

ale

rtat

rma

els

Info

Hot

spo

oles

Tran

7-3

l ind

7-2

Tota

7-1 Service industry

Source: Statistics Korea (service industry activity trend)

Wholesale and retail sales

Source: Statistics Korea (service industry activity trend)

February 2010 service industry by business

Source: Statistics Korea (service industry activity trend)

Economic Bulletin

8. Employment The number of workers on payroll in February 2010 increased by 125,000 from a year earlier, while the employment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points year-on-year to 56.6 percent. In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of employed rose by 79,000 from the previous month and the employment rate was up 0.1 percentage point month-on-month. By industry, employment in manufacturing (up 45,000) and services (up 310,000) climbed while that in construction (down 87,000) and agriculture, forestry & fishery (down 143,000) declined. Hiring in manufacturing increased for two consecutive months helped by overall increases in exports and manufacturing output of semiconductors and automobiles. The service sector hired more workers amid domestic demand recovery and elevated consumption. By status of workers, wage workers increased by 329,000 led by a surge of 593,000 in regular workers, although the number of daily workers plunged by 239,000. Non-wage workers including self-employed workers (down 70,000), however, plummeted by 204,000 from a year earlier. By gender, male workers (up 116,000) rose at a faster pace than female workers (up 9,000).

2008

2009

2010

Annual

Feb

Jan

Feb

23.58

23.75

23.64

23.51

22.74

22.90

23.74

23.75

23.63

22.87

Employment rate (%)

59.5

59.9

59.4

58.6

57.0

57.4

59.3

59.1

58.7

56.6

(seasonally adjusted)

59.5

59.2

58.6

58.8

58.6

58.7

58.5

58.2

58.3

Employment growth (y-o-y, thousand)

145

141

-72

-142

-146

-134

-1

-6

125

(Excluding agriculture, forestry & fishery)

182

179

-34

-148

-160

-109

110

165

268

- Manufacturing

-52

-103

-126

-176

-163

-151

-143

-49

-81

-87

Number of employed (million)

- Construction

-37

-40

-41

-91

-17

-43

-113

-103

-107

- Services

263

262

187

186

155

269

264

213

310

- Agriculture, forestry & fishery

-37

-38

-25

-116

-160

-143

- Wage workers

236

208

137

247

117

175

356

413

244

329

Regular workers

386

347

316

383

390

318

313

386

492

609

593

Temporary workers

-93

-83

-94

-193

-136

-5

125

186

-121

-24

Daily workers

-57

-56

-85

-158

-80

-108

-133

-155

-264

-244

-239

- Non-wage workers

-92

-66

-83

-319

-259

-220

-309

-357

-424

-240

-204

-79

-76

-95

-259

-256

-197

-286

-276

-307

-113

-70

- Male

-34

-23

116

- Female

-103

-85

-124

-158

-34

-94

-9

- 15 to 29

-119

-114

-166

-127

-196

-212

-99

-123

-77

-16

- 30 to 39

-26

-36

-92

-173

-167

-159

-213

-169

-149

-81

-37

- 40 to 49

-24

-27

-30

-46

-56

-39

- 50 to 59

207

169

206

198

183

193

156

211

230

233

255

109

-105

-39

Self-employed workers

- 60 or more Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

8-1

Number of employed and employment growth Source: Statistics Korea (employment trend)

8-2

Share of employed by industry Source: Statistics Korea (employment trend)

8-3

Share of employed by status of workers Source: Statistics Korea (employment trend)

Economic Bulletin

The number of unemployed in February 2010 climbed by 244,000 year-on-year to record 1,169,000 and the unemployment rate rose by 1.0 percentage point to 4.9 percent from a year earlier. When seasonally adjusted, the number of jobless people fell 119,000 from the previous month to 1,076,000 while the unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points month-on-month to 4.4 percent. The number of jobseekers increased as an economic recovery and public work projects boosted expectations over an improvement in the labor market, which led to the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate to remain high in February as did in January. By gender, the number of female workers who became jobless (up 143,000) increased at a faster pace than that of male workers who became jobless (up 101,000) in February. By age, the jobless surged among youths aged 15 to 29 (up 61,000) and seniors aged 60 or over (up 98,000).

2008

2009

2010

Annual

Feb

Jan

Feb

Number of unemployed (thousand)

769

752

757

889

924

908

943

886

817

1,216

1,169

Unemployment growth (y-o-y, thousand)

-14

-5

119

106

107

176

134

368

244

- Male

-12

116

154

101

-1

-6

-1

214

143

Unemployment rate (%)

3.2

3.1

3.6

3.9

3.8

3.6

3.3

5.0

4.9

(Seasonally adjusted)

3.2

3.6

3.5

3.9

3.7

3.5

4.8

4.4

- Youth aged 15 to 29

7.2

6.9

7.0

8.1

8.7

8.6

8.0

8.1

7.6

9.3

10.0

- Middle school graduate or under

2.2

2.1

2.5

2.9

2.6

2.2

2.3

7.1

4.9

- High school graduate

3.8

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.0

5.2

5.1

- College, univ. graduate or over

3.0

2.9

3.5

3.8

3.6

3.7

3.3

3.2

3.8

4.6

- Female

Source: Statistics Korea

The economically inactive population in February was up 151,000 from a year earlier to post 16,380,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate was up 0.2 percentage points yearon-year to 59.5 percent. When seasonally adjusted, the economically inactive population rose 74,000 month-on-month to 15,770,000 while the labor force participation rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 61.0 percent from a month earlier. Workers quitting jobs due to childcare & housework (up 86,000) and old age (up 196,000) surged while those who quit due to reasons such as rest, time-off, and leisure (down 189,000) significantly decreased.

2008

2009

2010

Annual

Feb

Jan

Feb

Economically inactive population (million) 15.25

15.15

15.37

15.70

16.23

16.09

15.35

15.53

15.83

16.31

16.38

Labor force participation rate (%)

61.5

61.8

61.3

60.6

59.3

59.7

61.7

61.3

60.7

59.6

59.5

Growth in economically inactive population (y-o-y, thousand)

297

289

372

447

509

514

445

374

456

150

151

- Engaged in family duties

123

134

112

188

261

209

173

119

250

190

- Retired

104

102

105

190

196

- Rest

-27

123

124

162

112

123

-231

-189

Annual

Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

8-4

Employment rate Source: Statistics Korea (employment trend)

8-5

Unemployment rate and youth unemployment rate Source: Statistics Korea (employment trend)

8-6

Economically active population Source: Statistics Korea (employment trend)

Economic Bulletin

9. Financial market 9.1 Stock market The Korean stock market in March rallied on the back of eased concerns over fiscal woes in Greece and expectations of an economic recovery. Optimism grew as public debt problems engulfing Greece could be resolved, thanks to a successful issuance of Treasury bonds by the Greek government and an agreement by EU leaders on a bailout plan combining bilateral loans and money from the IMF for a standby aid package for Greece. The stock market stayed on an upward trend despite a fall in leading indicators and the sinking of the naval patrol ship “Cheonan.” Improved economic indicators in the US labor market and commitments to maintain expansionary monetary policies in the US, China and Japan fueled the market rally. The foreign investors maintained the net-buying position, which pushed up the monthly netpurchasing of shares to the second largest amount ever. (End-period, point, trillion won) KOSPI

Stock price index

KOSDAQ

Feb 2010

Mar 2010

Change1

Feb 2010

Mar 2010

Change1

1,594.6

1,692.9

+98.3 (+6.2%)

507.3

515.7

+8.7 (+1.7%)

844.1

903.9

+59.9 (+7.1%)

87.7

90.0

+2.3 (+2.6%)

Market capitalization Average daily trade value

4.0

4.3

+0.3 (+7.5%)

2.3

0.0 (0.0%)

Foreign stock ownership

32.1

32.5

+0.4 (+1.2%)

7.5

7.6

+0.1 (+1.3%)

1. Change from the end of the previous month

9.2 Exchange rate The won/dollar exchange rate as of end-March fell 28.7 won from 1,160.0 won at the end of February to wrap up the month at 1,131.3 won. The won’s value against the dollar appreciated as an agreement on the EU-IMF bailout plan for Greece eased credit concerns in the eurozone while foreign investors continued netbuying of Korean shares which amounted to around 5.6 trillion won during the month. The won/yen exchange rate fell 85.4 won month-on-month to 1,213.6 won as of end-March as the yen depreciated with eased concerns on sovereign debt woes in eurozone countries. (End-period) 2006

2007

2008

2009

Dec

Feb

2010 Mar

Change1

Won/Dollar

929.8

936.1

1,259.5

1,164.5

1,160.0

1,131.3

2.54

Won/100Yen

783.4

828.6

1,396.8

1,264.5

1,299.0

1,213.6

7.04

1. Appreciation from the end of the previous year (%); the exchange rate is based on the closing price at 3:00 p.m., local time.

April 2010

9-1

Stock prices

9-2

Foreign exchange rate (month-end)

9-3

Recent foreign exchange rate

Economic Bulletin

9.3 Bond market Treasury bond yields were down in March as leading economic indicators shifted to a fall while the newly appointed governor of the Bank of Korea was expected to maintain expansionary monetary policies. The yields had plunged until mid March as the policy rate was expected to remain low, before edging up toward the end of the month due to profit taking and concerns over exit strategy. (End-period, %) 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Call rate (1 day)

4.60

5.02

3.02

2.01

2.00

2.01

2.00

-1

CD (91 days)

4.86

5.82

3.93

2.88

2.78

-10

Change1

Treasury bonds (3 yrs)

4.92

5.74

3.41

4.44

4.27

4.10

3.89

-21

Corporate bonds (3 yrs)

5.29

6.77

7.72

5.56

5.39

5.24

4.89

-35

Treasury bonds (5 yrs)

5.00

5.78

3.77

4.98

4.82

4.62

4.52

-10

1. Basis point changes in March 2010 from the previous month

9.4 Money supply & money market The M2 (monthly average) in January 2010 expanded 8.8 percent from a year earlier excluding cash management accounts (CMAs), which were included in M2 since July 2009. The year-on-year M2 growth remained at the same level of 8.8 percent compared to the previous month despite reduced private credit and decreased money supply in the overseas sector, as the government borrowed 3 trillion won on January 26 from the Bank of Korea. (Percentage change from same period in previous year, average) 2009

2008

2010

Annual

Dec

Jan

Jan1

-1.8

-12.4

-0.1

2.1

5.0

16.3

10.8

17.6

18.9

17.8

16.4

15.1

381

14.3

13.3

15.3

14.7

13.8

10.1

11.5

10.1

9.5

9.3

8.8

1,566

Lf3

11.9

11.6

12.8

12.1

11.2

Upper7

8.8

7.3

7.5

7.4

Upper7

M1+

Upper7 2,0074

1. Balance at end January 2010, trillion won 2. M1 excluding corporate MMFs and individual MMFs while including CMAs 3. Liquidity aggregates of financial institutions (mostly identical with M3) 4. Balance at end December 2009, trillion won

In February 2010, bank deposits continued to rise as asset management company (AMC) deposits shifted to an increase. Bank deposits sustained an upward trend as depositors perceived deposit rates favorable and efforts to lower the loan-deposit ratio by banks continued. AMC deposits reversed course to a surge thanks to a massive inflow of funds from banks and the government.

(Monthly change, end-period, trillion won) 2008 Annual

2009 Feb

Annual

Feb

2010 Dec

Jan

Feb

Feb1

Bank deposits

104.3

9.9

54.8

23.1

-8.3

15.7

16.9

1,040

AMC deposits

63.0

13.9

-27.7

11.4

-11.1

-5.0

9.7

336

1. Balance at end February 2010, trillion won

April 2010

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

10. Balance of payments Korea’s current account shifted to a surplus of US$160 million in February 2010. The goods account surplus increased moderately to post US$1.53 billion from the previous month’s US$1.38 billion as the trade account turned to a positive territory. As the travel account deficit declined with the end of winter vacation, the service account reduced the deficit to US$1.78 billion from US$2.16 billion of the previous month. The income account surplus expanded to record US$570 million from US$470 million a month earlier as an increase in the interest account surplus exceeded a decrease in the dividend account surplus. The current transfer account deficit narrowed to US$160 million from the previous month’s US$310 million with decreased outward remittance. (US$ billion) 2008

Current account

2009

2010

Annual

Jan-Feb

Jan

Feb

-5.78

42.67

8.62

13.10

10.40

10.56

-0.47

-0.63

0.16

5.67

56.13

8.31

17.58

14.70

15.54

2.91

1.38

1.53

- Service balance

-16.67

-17.20

-1.93

-4.17

-5.33

-5.77

-3.94

-2.16

-1.78

- Income balance

5.90

4.55

0.92

0.29

1.69

1.65

1.03

0.47

0.57

- Current transfers

-0.67

-0.81

1.31

-0.60

-0.66

-0.86

-0.47

-0.31

-0.16

- Goods balance

Source: The Bank of Korea

The capital and financial account in February 2010 posted a net inflow of US$250 million. Capital & financial account balance (US$ billion) -1.40 (Q1 2009)

8.68 (Q2)

14.40 (Q3)

4.77 (Q4)

4.47 (Jan 2010)

0.25 (Feb)

The direct investment account decreased the net outflow to register US$760 million from the previous month’s US$1.68 billion mainly due to decreasing outbound foreign direct investment (FDI). The portfolio investment account increased the net inflow to record US$3.13 billion from US$150 million a month earlier on the back of overseas bond issuances and a net inflow of foreign investment fund into the Korean bond market. The net inflow in the financial derivatives account expanded to post US$250 million from US$50 million in the previous month as profits from overseas financial derivative transactions increased. The other investment account turned to a deficit of US$2.32 billion from the previous month’s surplus of US$6.02 billion as financial institutions’ lending increased while borrowing plunged. The current account is likely to record a surplus of around US$1.0 to 1.5 billion in March as the goods account surplus expanded despite higher dividend payments.

April 2010

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

11. Prices and international commodity prices 11.1 Prices Consumer prices in March increased 2.3 percent year-on-year while posting 0.3 percent growth from the previous month. Core consumer prices, which exclude the prices of oil and agricultural products, rose by 1.5 percent year-on-year. Consumer prices for basic necessities, a barometer of perceived consumer prices, were up 2.9 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.

Consumer price inflation 2009

2010

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Month-on-Month (%)

0.7

0.3

0.0

-0.1

0.4

0.1

-0.3

0.2

0.4

0.3

Year-on-Year (%)

3.9

3.6

2.7

2.0

1.6

2.2

2.0

2.4

2.8

3.1

2.7

2.3

Core consumer prices (y-o-y)

4.5

4.2

3.9

3.5

3.2

3.1

2.7

2.6

2.5

2.2

2.1

1.9

1.5

(m-o-m)

0.4

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

Consumer prices for basic necessities (y-o-y)

3.1

3.0

1.8

0.5

0.4

1.3

1.7

1.5

2.3

3.3

3.8

3.4

2.9

Source: Statistics Korea

Prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products as well as oil products showed strength, while other industrial products prices and service charges were stabilized. Prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products maintained the upward track as bad weather conditions led to a drop in vegetable production. Prices of agricultural, livestock & fishery products in Mar 2010 (m-o-m, %) Chinese cabbage (54.4), unripe hot pepper (32.9), green pepper (55.0), cucumber (13.2), mandarin orange (10.9), pork (-3.7), spinach (-33.5), Korean beef (-2.1)

Although higher international oil prices pushed up oil product prices, prices of other industrial products stabilized with a mere 0.4 percent increase month-on-month. Prices of Dubai crude (US$/barrel) 67.7 (Sep 2009)

73.2 (Oct)

77.7 (Nov)

75.5 (Dec)

76.8 (Jan 2010)

73.6 (Feb)

-77.3 (Mar)

Public utility charges edged down 0.3 percent from the previous month as most public utility charges remained unchanged while SK Telecom, Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest mobile telephone operator, started to charge voice calls by each second in March, slashing mobile call charges. Personal service charges significantly slowed its upward trend compared to the ordinary March level with relatively stabilizing education service charges affected by universitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; efforts to freeze tuition fees. Price increases of personal service charges in Mar 2010 (m-o-m, %) 1.4 (2006)

1.6 (2007)

1.9 (2008)

0.7 (2009)

0.5 (2010)

Consumer price inflation in major sectors

Month-on-Month (%) Contribution (%p) Year-on-Year (%) Contribution (%p) Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

Total

Agricultural, livestock & fishery products

Industrial products

Oil products

Housing rents

Public utility

Personal services

0.3

1.6

0.3

1.8

0.2

-0.3

0.5

0.35

0.14

0.13

0.11

0.02

-0.04

0.18

2.3

4.0

3.0

10.9

1.4

1.3

2.3

2.31

0.35

0.93

0.60

0.15

0.22

0.76

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

11-2 Consumer price inflation Source: Statistics Korea (consumer price trend)

11-3 Contribution to consumer price inflation Source: Statistics Korea (consumer price trend)

Economic Bulletin

11.2. International oil and commodity prices International oil prices in March increased month-on-month as Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial woe eased and expectations of an economic recovery boosted confidence with a gradual improvement in manufacturing index. In particular, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s index on manufacturing in the US jumped 3.1 points to 59.6 in March, the highest level since July 2004. (US$/barrel, period average) 2007

2008

2009

2010

Annual

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Dubai crude

68.4

94.3

61.9

67.7

73.2

77.7

75.5

76.8

73.6

77.3

Brent crude

72.8

97.5

61.7

67.5

72.8

76.7

74.5

76.4

73.9

79.0

WTI crude

72.3

99.9

61.9

69.4

75.8

78.1

74.5

78.3

76.5

81.3

Source: KOREAPDS

Record high oil prices (spot prices, US$/barrel) Dubai crude: 141 (Jul 4, 2008), Brent crude: 145 (Jul 3, 2008), WTI crude: 146 (Jul 14, 2008)

In the domestic market, both gasoline and diesel prices rose month-on-month as internaional oil prices and international oil product prices went up. (Won/liter, period average) 2007

2008

2009

2010

Annual

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Gasoline prices

1,526

1,692

1,601

1,681

1,627

1,655

1,646

1,661

1,664

1,691

Diesel prices

1,273

1,614

1,397

1,453

1,409

1,452

1,441

1,450

1,443

1,469

Source: Korea National Oil Corporation

Prices of overall non-ferrous metals in March climbed from a month earlier with the expectations of an economic recovery. In particular, nickel prices soared due to strikes in major nickel mines and expanded demand for stainless steel. International prices of grain including corn and raw sugar fell from the previous month as robust grain productions in South America boosted the grain harvest outlook for this year. Prices of non-ferrous metals and grain in Mar 2010 (m-o-m, %) Corn (1.0), wheat (-1.3), raw sugar (-27.1), soybean (1.5), bronze (9.0), aluminum (7.6), nickel (18.2), zinc (6.0), lead (2.7), tin (7.4)

Reuters index*

(Period average)

2007

2008

2009

Annual

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

2,400

2,536

2,079

2,147

2,197

2,243

2,294

2,343

2,290

2,269

* A weighted average index of 17 major commodities Source: KOREAPDS

April 2010

2010

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

12. Real estate market 12.1 Housing market In March, nationwide apartment sales prices increased at a slower pace of 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent a month earlier. While apartment sales prices in Seoul including Gangnam decelerated its growing pace to 0.0 percent from 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, prices remained steady in Gyeonggi province (down 0.1%) and Incheon (down 0.0%). Meanwhile, apartment sales prices in areas excluding the Seoul metropolitan area continued to increase led by some metropolitan cities such as Busan (up 1.5%) and Daejeon (up 0.7%) without enough apartments put up for sale.

Nationwide apartment sales prices

(Percentage change from previous period)

2006 2007 2008

2009

2010

Annual Annual Annual Annual Q1

Jan Feb Mar Mar11 Mar81 Mar151 Mar221 Mar291

Nationwide

13.8

2.1

2.3

1.6 -1.2

0.4

1.5

0.9

0.1

0.4

0.3

0.1

Seoul

24.1

3.6

3.2

2.6 -1.3

1.0

2.6

0.3

0.1

0.3

0.0

Gangnam

27.6

0.5

-1.9

3.9 -1.1

1.7

3.1

0.2

0.4

0.0

Gangbuk3

19.0

8.3

9.4

0.9 -1.7

0.2

2.0

0.4

0.0

0.1

0.0

-0.1

Seoul metropolitan area

24.6

4.0

2.9

0.7 -1.8

0.5

1.8

0.2

0.0

0.1

0.0

2.1 -0.6

1.0

2.8 -0.7

0.3

1.3

1.9

0.4

0.8

0.7

0.2

0.1

0.2

5 metropolitan cities 1. Weekly trends

2. Upscale area of Southern Seoul

3. Northern Seoul Source: Kookmin Bank

The increase in rental prices slightly slowed to 0.8 percent from the previous monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 0.9 percent. In Seoul (up 0.7%), Gangnam decelerated the growing pace from 1.2 percent to 0.5 percent, while rental prices in Gangbuk accelerated the increase from 0.7 percent to 0.9 percent with expanded demand during the spring moving season.

Nationwide apartment rental prices

(Percentage change from previous period)

2006 2007 2008

2009

Annual Annual Annual Annual Q1

Nationwide

2010

Jan Feb Mar Mar1 Mar81 Mar151 Mar221 Mar291 1

7.6

1.9

0.8

4.5 -1.3

0.9

2.8

2.0

0.4

0.9

0.8

0.2

Seoul

11.5

2.2

-1.8

8.1 -0.8

1.8

4.7

2.3

0.6

1.0

0.7

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

Gangnam2

11.3

0.5

-3.6 10.4 -0.1

2.4

5.1

2.7

0.9

1.2

0.5

0.1

0.2

0.1

Gangbuk

11.8

4.6

0.5

5.4 -1.6

1.0

4.2

1.9

0.1

0.7

0.9

0.2

11.7

2.1

-0.4

5.6 -1.8

1.4

4.1

1.8

0.3

0.7

0.2

3.0

1.1

1.6

3.9 -0.9

0.4

1.9

2.6

0.7

1.4

1.0

0.2

0.3

0.2

0.3

Seoul metropolitan area 5 metropolitan cities 1. Weekly trends

2. Upscale area of Southern Seoul

3. Northern Seoul Source: Kookmin Bank

Apartment sales transactions in February 2010 edged up from 61,974 a month earlier to post 66,500. The transactions were up 11.1 percent from a year earlier and 1.5 percent compared with the monthly average recorded in the same month for the past 3 years.

Apartment sales transactions 2007

2008

Annual Annual

Nationwide

Source: Korea Land Corporation

April 2010

(Monthly average, thousand) 2009

2010

Feb Annual Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

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

12.2 Land market Continuing the moderate recovery pace, nationwide land prices in February 2010 rose 0.23 percent, slightly decelerating from the previous monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 0.25 percent. Land prices in February were 2.7 percent lower than the pre-crisis peak reached in October 2008. In the Seoul metropolitan area (up 0.29%), land prices in Incheon (up 0.33%) and Gyeonggi province (up 0.32%) saw a robust increase. Land price increases in Seoul metropolitan area (m-o-m, %) 0.38 (Dec)

0.36 (Nov 2009)

0.31 (Jan 2010)

0.29 (Feb)

Meanwhile, land price increases in areas excluding the Seoul metropolitan area slowed to 0.13 percent from 0.14 percent of the previous month. Land price increases in areas excluding Seoul metropolitan area (m-o-m, %) 0.21 (Nov 2009)

0.26 (Dec)

0.14 (Jan 2010)

0.13 (Feb)

Land prices by region

(Percentage change from previous period)

2007

2008

2009

2010

Annual

Jan

Feb

Nationwide

3.88

1.15

-0.31

1.23

1.46

1.18 -4.08

0.96

-1.20

0.35

0.88

0.94

0.25

0.23

Seoul

5.88

1.90

-1.00

1.83

2.17

1.59 -6.34

1.40

-1.38

0.68

1.30

0.81

0.25

0.26

Gyeonggi

4.22

1.14

-0.26

1.28

1.57

1.28 -4.28

1.22

-1.62

0.37

1.13

1.36

0.35

0.32

Incheon

4.86

1.13

1.37

2.01 -3.57

1.99

1.70

0.45

0.33

1.36

1.67

-1.39

0.53

1.16

Source: Korea Land Corporation

Nationwide land transactions in February recorded 168,000 land lots, down 1.3 percent from the previous month, which is equivalent to 91.3 percent of the monthly average (184,000) in the same month of the past 5 years. Nationwide land transactions decreased in terms of land lots led by Ulsan (down 22.5%), South Jeolla province (down 11.3%) and Gyeonggi province (down 11.1%).

Land sales transactions

(Monthly average, land lot, thousand)

2007 2008

2009

2010

Annual Annual Annual

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

208

203

134

164

207

192

215

222

206

226

212

207

241

170

168

Seoul

Gyeonggi

Incheon

Nationwide

Source: Korea Land Corporation

April 2010

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

Economic Bulletin

13. Composite indices of business cycle indicators The cyclical indicator of coincident composite index increased 0.7 points month-on-month in February 2010, continuing the upward trend. All components of the coincident composite index including the value of construction completed, the domestic shipment index and the mining and manufacturing production index increased. Components of coincident composite index in Feb 2010 (m-o-m) Value of construction completed (1.4%), domestic shipment index (0.6%), mining & manufacturing production index (1.9%), volume of imports (1.2%), manufacturing operation ratio index (1.0%), service activity index (1.5%), wholesale & retail sales index (1.5%), number of non-farm payroll employment (0.1%)

The year-on-year leading composite index went down 1.0 percentage point from the previous month, continuing the downward trend for two consecutive months. Three components of the index including the ratio of job openings to job seekers and the capital goods imports increased, while the other six components such as the value of construction orders received and the indicator of inventory cycle were down. Components of the leading composite index in Feb 2010 (m-o-m) Indicator of inventory cycle (-4.5%p), ratio of job openings to job seekers (5.6%p), value of machinery orders received (-7.1%), volume of capital goods imports (4.7%), composite stock price index (-1.0%), liquidity in the financial institutions (0.3%), spreads between long & short term interest rates (0.0%p), net terms of trade index (-0.3%), consumer expectations index (-2.8p), value of construction orders received (-14.9%)

2009

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

2010

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov1

Dec1

Jan1

Feb1

0.8

0.7

0.4

0.5

0.4

0.8

1.2

98.7

98.9

99.0

98.9

99.3

100.0

(m-o-m, p)

0.4

0.2

0.0

0.1

-0.1

0.4

0.7

Leading composite index (m-o-m, %)

0.9

0.6

1.1

0.7

0.3

-0.2

12 month smoothed change in leading composite index (%)

8.6

9.6

10.3

11.3

11.6

11.3

10.3

(m-o-m, %p)

1.2

0.8

0.7

1.0

0.3

-0.3

-1.0

1. Preliminary

April 2010

13-1 Cyclical indicator of coincident composite index Source: Statistics Korea

13-2 Leading composite index Source: Statistics Korea

13-3 Coincident and leading composite indices Source: Statistics Korea

Economic Bulletin

Policy Issues New National Accounting System to Take Hold in Three Years

Background The Ministry of Strategy and Finance adopted the accrual basis accounting and double-entry bookkeeping system to all sectors of national finance in fiscal year 2009. The rationales behind the adoption were 1) to effectively manage national assets and reflect them in national accounting, 2) to clearly show net national assets to help citizens understand the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current fiscal situation, 3) to promote more responsible budget spending through project specific cost analyses, 4) to use various financial analysis methods of the new accounting system in making fiscal decisions and responding to fiscal situation changes, and 5) to raise transparency and management competence of the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial activities through double-entry bookkeeping.

What has been done to adopt the new system The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has enacted and amended laws and regulations on the National Accounting Act as belows: - Enacting Enforcement Decree of the National Accounting Act on March 8, 2009 - Enacting National Accounting Standards on March 19, 2009, which aimed at providing accounting standards needed for accrual basis accounting and double-entry bookkeeping methods to be applied to national financial activities

April 2010

- Setting up specific accounting working rules such as loan accounting working rules and accumulating cost working rules on May 11, 2009 - Developing 12 guidelines for accounting practices between June and December 2009, three for financial statements and nine for specific accounts such as government money accounts, transactions excluding tax revenue and expenditure, and fund accounts - Amending identified cost methods applied to government asset accounting based on the National Accounting Act, which used to be independent of the National Accounting Act - Adopting resolution on the amendment of National Accounting Standards at the 6th National Accounting Standard Board on November 11, 2009, through which the basis for reflecting national properties at their current economic value was founded An electronic link between budget and accounting has been set in the Digital Budget and Accounting System (dBrain). Government agencies which do not use the dBrain system have developed agency-specific tools connecting their budgets and accountings. Field examination of national assets such as national properties, commodities, and state claims, which started in November 2008, has been completed, as two final field investigations confirmed the reliability of the examination. Eight social infrastructures such as roads, railroads, ports, dams, airports, waterworks, and river and fishing port facilities have been under field examination since the second half of 2009, the result of which will be reflected in the government financial statements. The opening statement of financial position based on the 2008 national assets and liabilities report began drawing up. The statement will be a foundation for determining basic prices for accrual basis accounting. The government offered online trainings as well as off-the-job trainings to 1,800 government officials in charge of financial settlement and dBrain users.

What will be achieved in three years to fully implement the system To fully reflect the value of social infrastructures in national accounting, field examinations of the social infrastructures are planned to be completed in 2010, followed by asset evaluation in 2011. The 2011 fiscal year financial statements, which will reflect the value of the social infrastructures, will be submitted to the National Assembly in 2012. To include provisions such as pensions and insurance in national accounting, study on accounting methods will be completed in 2010, and applied from fiscal year 2011.

Economic Bulletin

To raise professional human resources dealing with the new accounting system, a legal basis for recruiting personnel specializing in accounting will be founded in 2010, followed by actual recruitment beginning in 2012. Incentives will be set in 2011 to motivate government accounting officials and enhance their professional ability. To help smooth transition to the new accounting system, the government will temporarily run Accounting Settlement Advisory Committee in 2010 with experts from the private sector, which will support drawing-up of government financial statements and examine new accounting methods. To found a basis for the new system to firmly take hold, the examination for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) will cover national accounting from 2012, along with the introduction of national certification for government accounting in 2011, given to qualified CPAs. The national certification for government accounting is a response to increasing demand for CPA consultation expected with the adoption of accrual basis accounting. According to the new enforcement decree of the National Accounting Act, funds managing more than 500 billion won are required to submit CAP audit reports along with financial statements. National Accounting Standards Center, commissioned to develop national accounting standards, will be set up in 2010 based on the National Accounting Act. The center will work on practical interpretation of national accounting standards, inquiries concerning the standards, development of financial indicators based on accrual basis accounting, accounting systems between central and local governments, and study on foreign governmentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; accounting systems. To improve accuracy and reliability of government financial statements, the government plans to start an amendment process of the National Accounting Act in the second half of 2010. The amendment will make it possible to mandate the review of government financial statements by private sector accounting experts from 2012. The quality of the private sector accountants will be strictly assessed on the basis of related regulations enforced from the second half of 2012.

April 2010

Economic News Briefing

G-20 Steering Group leaders urge G-20 members to deliver on reforms G-20 Steering Group leaders, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, US President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, urged fellow G-20 members in a letter signed on March 30, to fulfill the obligations agreed upon during the Pittsburgh Summit. As the past, current, and future chairs of the G-20 Summit, the group emphasized the need to implement commitments to ensure strong macroeconomic policy cooperation and to continue regulatory reforms to strengthen the international financial system. All G-20 countries must move quickly to implement the new Framework agreed upon in Pittsburgh to contribute to a strong, sustainable and balanced global growth as well as job creation, noted the statement. Agreement should be reached in Toronto to fight against the major risks to global economic stability and sustained growth. In addition, more specific policy recommendations are needed to be developed for the Seoul Summit in November. Meanwhile, a financial support group for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seoul G-20 Business Summitâ&#x20AC;? was launched on April 5. At the business summit, about hundred international CEOs will get together on the sidelines of a G-20 summit and share their ideas on economic collaboration between the public and private sector.

Economic Bulletin

Korean economy grows 0.2% in 2009 (Preliminary) Korea’s real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.2 percent in 2009 compared with the previous year as increased government spending offset slowed private sector spending and exports. On the production side, the manufacturing sector decreased 1.6 percent while the service sector increased 1.0 percent, a slowdown from the previous year’s 2.8 percent growth. On the other hand, the construction turned to an increase of 1.9 percent from a decrease of 2.5 percent a year earlier. On the expenditure side, facility investment declined at a faster pace of 9.1 percent after falling 1.0 percent in the previous year. Private consumption and goods exports significantly slowed the upward trend while government spending and construction investment were up 5.0 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, real gross national income (GNI) in 2009 grew 1.5 percent backed by improving trade. Per capita GNI at current prices, however, fell US$2,121 or 10.9 percent to post US$17,175 from US$19,296 a year earlier, due mainly to the won’s depreciation against the dollar. Per-capita income is expected to rebound to US$20,000 this year on the back of a fast economic recovery, said the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in a statement released on March 26.

GDP by production and expenditure*

(Percentage change from previous period) 20091 (Seasonally adjusted) 3

2008

20091

Annual

GDP

2.3

0.2

-4.3

-2.2

1.0

6.0

0.2

2.4

3.2

0.2

Agriculture, forestry and fishery

5.6

1.6

1.5

-1.3

3.3

2.8

-0.1

-0.4

2.9

0.4

Manufacturing

20091 (Original) 2

2.9

-1.6

-13.6

-7.2

1.7

13.0

-2.5

8.0

9.4

-1.7

-2.5

1.9

0.0

3.2

0.3

3.3

4.4

1.2

-1.0

-0.6

Services

2.8

1.0

-0.4

0.3

0.9

3.0

0.3

1.0

0.9

Private consumption

1.3

0.2

-4.4

-1.0

0.7

5.8

0.3

3.3

1.7

0.4

Construction 4

Government consumption

4.3

5.0

7.2

6.7

5.3

1.1

2.9

0.7

0.0

-2.4

Facility investment

-1.0

-9.1

-23.1

-17.3

-7.0

13.3

-10.5

9.0

10.8

5.3

Construction investment

-2.8

4.4

2.8

5.1

4.4

5.0

5.9

1.8

-0.7

-0.1

4.6

0.0

-13.5

-3.2

2.3

15.0

-1.7

13.5

5.1

-1.5

4.5

-7.9

-18.5

-13.8

-6.7

8.9

-5.8

8.7

8.0

-1.3

-0.6

1.5

-5.4

-0.2

3.7

7.5

-0.7

4.9

1.1

2.7

Goods exports

Goods imports

GNI

*At 2005 chained prices 1. Preliminary 2. Percentage changes from the same period of the previous year 3. Percentage change from the previous period 4. Wholesale & retail sales, hotels & restaurants, transportation & storage, communication services, financial & insurance services, real estate & renting, business services, public administration, defense & social security, educational services, healthcare & social welfare services, entertainment, cultural & sports services and other services are included. 5. FOB basis

April 2010

Inbound FDI in Q1 posts US$1,540 million Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Korea recorded US$1,540 million in the first quarter of 2010, down 8.2 percent from US$1,677 million a year earlier. The drop in FDI is affected by Korea’s largest investors including US and Japanese businesses as their investment costs increased due to the won’s appreciation. FDI from the Middle East, China, and the EU sharply increased by 877.8 percent, 401.6 percent, and 57.4 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, US direct investment shrank 89.9 percent and investment by Japan decreased 60.4 percent year-on-year. By industry, FDI in the service sector increased to US$822 million, up 8.6 percent from the previous year. The government aims to attract some US$13 billion in FDI this year. (Notification basis, US$ million) 2008 Total

2009

2010

Annual

Q11

2,716

1,832

2,874

4,289

11,711

1,677

2,967

3,374

3,465

11,484

1,540

-8.2

1. Percentage change from the same period of the previous year

Moody’s upgrades Korea’s rating to A1 On April 14, Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Korea’s government bond rating to A1 from A1 while keeping a stable outlook on the country. Moody’s attributed the change to Korea’s demonstration of “an exceptional level of economic resilience” to the global crises and the successful curbing of the government’s budget deficit. The move marked the first by one of the three major credit agencies to return Korea’s sovereign rating to the level before the Asian financial crisis. In addition, the upgrade is expected to help Korean financial institutions and companies lower their borrowing costs and improve global investors’ sentiment toward Korea. Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea projected that Korea’s GDP growth rate would rise from 0.2 percent in 2009 to 5.2 percent in 2010 and 4.8 percent in 2011 with exports rising and domestic demand including consumption and facilities investment recovering. The projected GDP growth for 2010 is raised by 0.6 percentage points from 4.6 percent to 5.2 percent, while that for 2011 is unchanged from the previous forecast of 4.8 percent. The revised 2010 growth forecast showed the fastest expansion since 2006 when the economy grew 5.2 percent.

Economic Bulletin

Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) comes into effect The Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), an Asian version of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was launched by ASEAN member states, China, Japan and Korea (ASEAN+3) on March 24, 90 days after the signing of the agreement. The US$120 billion fund provides financial support through currency swap transactions to CMIM participants facing balance-of-payment and short-term liquidity problems in accordance with the level of each country’s contribution. Korea, which contributed US$19.2 billion, or 16 percent of the fund, is able to receive up to the same amount as its contribution.

2009 Consolidated fiscal balance remains healthy Korea’s consolidated fiscal balance for Fiscal Year 2009 posted a deficit of 17.6 trillion won, or 1.7 percent of GDP, as total expenditure (272.9 trillion won) exceeded total revenue (255.3 trillion). The budget deficit to GDP ratio was relatively healthy compared to that of the US (11.4%) and the UK (11.2%). According to the OECD’s report “Preparing Fiscal Consolidation,” Korea ranked fourth in terms of fiscal soundness measured by the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio, after Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand. The report also forecasted that Korea would be the only country among OECD members to register a surplus in fiscal balance in 2010 with a budget surplus of 0.4 percent of GDP. On the other hand, the so-called “adjusted fiscal balance,” which equals to consolidated fiscal balance minus the surplus in social security funds recorded 43.2 trillion won in deficit. The government’s closed balance sheets will be presented to the National Assembly by the end of May 2010 after the examination by the Board of Audit and Inspection. (trillion won) 2008 (A)

2009

Change

Budget (B)

Settlement (C)

C-A

C-B

1. Revenue (consolidated budget)

250.7

253.9

255.3

4.6

1.4

2. Expenditure (consolidated budget)

238.8

275.9

272.9

34.1

-3.0

11.9

-22.0

-17.6

-29.5

4.4

1.2

-2.1

-1.7

-2.9%p

27.5

29.0

25.6

-1.9

-3.4

-15.6

-51.0

-43.2

-27.6

7.8

-1.5

-5.0

-4.1

-2.6%p

3. Consolidated fiscal balance (1-2) (3 to GDP ratio, %) 4. Social security balance 5. Adjusted fiscal balance (3-4) (5 to GDP ratio, %)

April 2010

Korea to develop 300 “hidden champions” by 2020 The Korean government will provide extended tax cuts and other financial incentives to midsized companies, which are sandwiched between small-and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and big companies. Also, the government aims to nurture 300 globally competitive midsized companies, commonly known as “hidden champions” by 2020, providing various support to those with high growth potential and leading technologies. The promising companies will enjoy various tax breaks on research and development (R&D) spending, easy loans and technological support from state institutions, said the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on March 18. The ministry will also support their overseas marketing activities and provide “corporate doctors” to help them develop new technologies and create long-term growth strategies. There has been some criticism in Korea that R&D projects and highly-skilled manpower have been concentrated in conglomerates, which has been seen a threat to sustainable economic development. In this regard, nurturing the globalized hidden champions is crucial for the nation’s future. Meanwhile, the government held the 4th National Employment Strategy Meeting on April 8 and discussed ways to create jobs in promising service sectors and strategies to nurture contents, media and 3D industries. The government will enhance its efforts in developing detailed measures to strengthen the service sector, which has a high impact on employment.

Regulations on banks’ loan-to-deposit (LTD) ratios On December 16, 2009, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced that it would adopt banks’ loan-to-deposit (LTD) guidance ratio to encourage sound management of local banks and alleviate factors driving the asset competition among them. As a follow-up measure, the Regulation on Supervision of Banking Business is set to be amended to employ banks’ LTD ratio after a notice and adjustment period. Although domestic banks’ LTD ratio was around 100 percent at the end of 2004, the ratio surged between 2005 and 2007 reaching 127.1 percent at the end of 2007. However, following the continuing guidance from the regulator to reduce the ratio since the second half of 2008, banks’ LTD ratio fell to 110.4 percent as of end-January 2010.

Economic Bulletin

LTD ratio of commercial banks

(period average, %)

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Jan 2010

Excluding CDs

95.4

101.7

103.7

111.9

127.1

121.9

115.3

113.6

112.1

110.4

Including CDs

89.0

94.0

93.3

98.4

106.3

103.0

99.8

98.1

97.6

97.3

The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) and Commercial banks with wondenominated loans exceeding 2 trillion won including foreign bank branches will be required to reduce their LTD ratio to 100 percent or lower with a grace period until the end of 2013 whereupon banks should maintain the ratio within 100 percent from January 1, 2014. To oversee the progressive lowering of the ratio during the grace period, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will review the ratio retrenchment plans of each bank annually.

April 2010

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 indices of business cycle indicators and BSI 9. Balance of payments (I) 10. Balance of payments (II) 11. Prices 12. Employment 13. Financial indicators 14. Monetary indicators 15. Exchange rates

Economic Bulletin

1. National accounts (year-on-year change, %, chained 2005 year prices) Real GDP Period Agri., fores. & fisheries

Manufacturing

Gross fixed capital formation

Final consumption expenditure

8.5

-1.5

2.8

-5.4

5.4

2004

4.6

9.1

10.0

1.0

2.1

1.3

3.8

2005

4.0

1.3

6.2

4.6

1.9

-0.4

5.3

2006

5.2

1.5

8.1

5.1

3.4

0.5

8.2

2007

5.1

4.0

7.2

5.1

4.2

1.4

9.3

2008

2.3

5.6

2.9

2.0

-1.9

-2.8

-1.0

2009P

0.2

1.6

-1.6

1.3

-0.2

4.4

-9.1

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009P

3.5

0.7

5.4

2.0

5.1

8.2

2.9

1.8

-1.6

3.1

0.3

4.7

8.4

-0.7

III

2.0

-9.6

4.3

0.0

2.8

8.3

-5.8

3.9

-8.0

8.5

-0.4

5.0

9.0

-2.2

5.2

8.2

10.9

-0.1

2.3

5.3

-0.6

5.9

7.6

12.9

1.3

4.9

4.2

6.4

III

4.8

8.3

10.4

1.0

3.1

1.2

7.7

2.7

11.6

6.2

1.8

-1.4

-3.5

1.8

2.7

0.4

4.8

2.7

-0.3

-3.1

3.4

4.8

3.9

4.7

1.8

0.9

2.8

III

4.5

3.8

6.7

5.9

1.5

-0.3

4.1

5.1

-3.1

9.3

4.9

3.9

0.3

10.8

6.1

3.9

9.4

5.8

3.8

1.9

7.2

5.1

-0.3

9.1

4.9

0.1

-4.2

8.0

III

5.0

-1.4

8.7

4.6

4.0

-0.5

12.0

4.6

4.2

5.4

5.1

5.7

5.1

5.7

4.5

1.6

4.5

5.1

7.3

4.4

12.6

5.3

7.0

7.2

5.4

5.7

2.0

13.0

III

4.9

8.2

6.3

5.3

1.5

-0.2

4.0

5.7

-0.7

10.2

4.7

3.1

0.4

8.0

5.5

7.8

8.9

4.3

-0.6

-2.5

2.8

4.4

4.6

8.3

3.0

0.6

-0.5

2.0

III

3.3

4.3

5.3

2.4

2.1

0.4

5.3

-3.3

6.5

-9.4

-1.7

-8.7

-7.7

-13.3

-4.3

1.5

-13.6

-2.0

-7.4

2.8

-23.1

-2.2

-1.3

-7.2

0.7

-2.3

5.1

-17.3

III

1.0

3.3

1.7

0.4

4.4

-7.0

6.0

2.8

13.0

4.7

7.1

5.0

13.3

P: Preliminary Source: The Bank of Korea

4.4

Facilities

2003

0.5

Construction

April 2010

Growth rate by economic activity

Growth rate by expenditure on GDP

Economic Bulletin

2. Production, shipment and inventory See graphs 6-1, 6-3, 7-1, 7-2 & 7-3 (constant prices, 2005 = 100)

Production index

Period

Y-o-Y change (%)

Shipment index

Y-o-Y change (%)

Inventory index

Y-o-Y change (%)

Service production index

Y-o-Y change (%)

2008

119.8

3.4

118.3

2.6

125.5

7.1

116.1

3.6

2009

118.9

-0.8

116.3

-1.7

115.5

-8.0

118.4

2.0

121.9

11.2

119.8

9.3

123.6

8.4

114.0

6.8

125.5

9.2

123.0

6.8

133.2

16.3

116.0

4.3

2008

2009

2008

2009

2010

III

119.6

5.9

118.0

5.5

132.0

17.1

116.4

3.4

112.4

-11.0

112.4

-9.9

125.5

7.1

118.1

0.0

102.8

-15.7

101.9

-14.9

115.9

-6.2

113.7

-0.3

117.8

-6.1

115.9

-5.8

110.6

-16.9

118.8

2.4

III

124.7

4.3

120.5

2.1

113.3

-14.2

118.6

1.9

130.5

16.2

126.8

12.8

115.5

-8.0

122.5

3.7

126.3

12.0

121.9

10.5

123.9

4.5

114.3

8.0

111.1

10.9

109.9

8.1

124.3

7.5

109.6

6.6

128.3

10.9

127.6

9.2

123.6

8.4

118.1

6.0

126.5

11.2

124.8

8.9

124.6

11.4

116.1

6.1

126.5

9.2

123.7

6.6

128.7

12.7

116.7

4.1

123.5

7.3

120.5

4.9

133.1

16.2

115.1

2.7

123.4

8.9

121.6

8.0

132.4

14.5

117.4

4.7

116.2

2.2

114.7

2.0

132.1

14.3

114.2

1.2

119.1

6.7

117.6

6.3

132.0

17.1

117.5

4.2

126.7

-1.5

124.2

-1.7

134.7

17.1

118.9

3.1

110.3

-13.6

109.8

-12.9

133.2

15.9

113.3

-2.0

100.0

-18.4

103.2

-15.1

125.5

7.1

122.2

-1.0

93.8

-25.7

93.1

-23.6

123.7

-0.2

112.4

-1.7

99.8

-10.2

99.4

-9.6

117.6

-5.4

109.5

-0.1

114.7

-10.6

113.3

-11.2

115.9

-6.2

119.2

0.9

116.1

-8.2

114.7

-8.1

112.4

-9.8

119.9

3.3

115.0

-9.1

112.8

-8.8

111.4

-13.4

118.5

1.5

122.2

-1.1

120.1

-0.3

110.6

-16.9

118.0

2.5

124.3

0.7

120.0

-1.3

112.3

-15.2

118.1

0.6

117.4

1.0

113.5

-1.0

112.8

-14.6

115.5

1.1

132.3

11.1

127.9

8.8

113.3

-14.2

122.3

4.1

127.0

0.2

123.4

-0.6

112.6

-16.4

118.3

-0.5

130.3

18.1

126.8

15.5

113.7

-14.6

118.1

4.2

134.2

34.2

130.2

26.2

115.5

-8.0

131.0

7.2

128.4

36.9

122.9

32.0

119.1

-3.7

117.2

4.3

118.9

19.1

113.6

14.3

123.1

4.7

117.3

7.1

P: Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

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

Y-o-Y change (%)

Operation ratio index (2005=100)

Y-o-Y change (%)

Average operation ratio (%)

115.3

5.1

97.2

-3.2

77.5

118.9

3.1

93.5

-3.8

74.6

113.8

5.9

99.3

2.2

81.5

115.1

6.3

103.1

0.5

80.8

Production capacity index (2005=100)

2008 2009

Period

2008

2009

III

116.0

5.3

95.5

-0.7

78.3

116.4

3.4

91.1

-13.6

69.6

116.8

2.6

81.4

-18.0

66.9

117.8

2.3

94.6

-8.2

74.2

III

119.7

3.2

97.8

2.4

78.8

121.1

4.0

100.3

10.1

78.4

2008 1

113.8

6.2

103.2

3.4

82.1

113.8

5.9

89.5

1.5

80.6

113.9

5.8

105.1

1.4

81.7

114.3

5.9

104.7

3.2

82.1

115.4

6.7

103.3

-0.6

80.1

115.7

6.2

101.2

-1.3

80.1

115.7

5.5

99.8

1.5

79.3

116.0

5.3

92.2

-4.6

78.3

116.2

4.9

94.5

0.7

77.3

116.3

3.6

104.1

-4.8

76.9

116.3

3.4

89.4

-16.8

69.1

116.7

3.3

79.7

-20.1

62.8

2009 1

116.8

2.6

73.5

-28.8

62.8

116.7

2.5

79.5

-11.2

67.7

117.0

2.7

91.1

-13.3

70.3

117.6

2.9

93.4

-10.8

72.4

117.6

1.9

92.6

-10.4

73.6

118.3

2.2

97.9

-3.3

76.6

119.1

2.9

98.6

-1.2

78.7

119.5

3.0

91.1

-1.2

77.7

120.4

3.6

103.6

9.6

79.9

120.6

3.7

99.1

-4.8

77.3

120.8

3.9

100.6

12.5

78.2

121.9

4.5

101.1

26.9

79.6

122.1

4.5

97.4

32.5

78.9

122.3

4.8

88.6

11.4

80.5

2010

P: Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea

Economic Bulletin

4. Consumer goods sales index See graphs 2-2, 2-3, 2-4 & 2-5 (constant prices, 2005 = 100) Consumer goods sales index

Period

Y-o-Y change (%)

Durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

Semi-durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

Non-durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

2008

110.6

1.1

126.4

1.6

104.9

-3.0

110.0

1.4

2009

113.5

2.6

136.7

8.1

105.2

0.3

111.3

1.2

111.5

4.5

129.9

8.7

103.6

4.0

109.2

2.3

111.7

2.9

134.1

8.0

107.2

-2.7

108.8

1.3

2008

2009

III

108.8

1.4

125.8

-0.1

94.0

0.3

112.3

1.5

110.4

-4.2

115.7

-9.6

115.0

-10.7

109.5

0.2

106.3

-4.7

114.4

-11.9

102.0

-1.5

107.7

-1.4

113.4

1.5

141.8

5.7

106.6

-0.6

109.3

0.5

III

111.9

2.8

135.7

7.9

93.3

-0.7

114.4

1.9

122.3

10.8

154.9

33.9

118.9

3.4

114.0

4.1

2008 1

111.7

5.4

128.3

8.1

104.4

6.7

108.8

4.3

107.3

3.5

117.8

6.1

97.8

7.2

108.4

0.6

115.4

4.6

143.6

11.4

108.5

-1.3

110.5

2.2

113.4

6.3

139.1

15.6

108.5

-2.8

109.5

4.5

115.1

3.3

136.0

7.9

112.1

-3.7

112.3

2.0

106.5

-0.7

127.1

0.6

100.9

-1.8

104.5

-2.7

109.6

4.2

140.7

7.9

97.6

3.5

106.1

1.0

106.2

2.2

121.5

-4.7

86.2

8.8

112.0

2.0

110.7

-1.8

115.2

-3.8

98.1

-8.9

118.8

1.6

109.7

-3.3

123.9

-0.5

111.6

-10.1

106.6

-2.2

108.9

-4.6

108.9

-15.3

120.3

-7.7

107.7

1.2

112.7

-4.8

114.4

-12.5

113.1

-14.3

114.3

1.5

2009 1

108.5

-2.9

103.9

-19.0

102.6

-1.7

114.8

5.5

100.9

-6.0

115.8

-1.7

96.1

-1.7

99.0

-8.7

109.4

-5.2

123.6

-13.9

107.4

-1.0

109.2

-1.2

108.6

-4.2

123.7

-11.1

108.3

-0.2

107.1

-2.2

117.0

1.7

144.0

5.9

112.1

0.0

113.0

0.6

114.6

7.6

157.8

24.2

99.4

-1.5

107.8

3.2

110.9

1.2

138.3

-1.7

94.3

-3.4

111.1

4.7

106.7

0.5

122.7

1.0

85.6

-0.7

112.9

0.8

118.1

6.7

146.0

26.7

100.1

2.0

119.1

0.3

120.4

9.8

144.7

16.8

114.9

3.0

116.8

9.6

119.5

9.7

153.2

40.7

120.7

0.3

109.3

1.5

127.0

12.7

166.8

45.8

121.2

7.2

116.0

1.5

115.9

6.8

145.1

39.7

107.4

4.7

108.8

-5.2

113.9

12.9

104.5

21.3

99.1

3.1

111.3

12.4

2010

P: Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

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

Domestic consumer goods shipment index (2005=100) Y-o-Y change (%)

Period

Durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

Non-durable goods

Y-o-Y change (%)

2008

114.8

1.6

126.8

1.8

109.9

1.4

2009

115.5

0.6

133.9

5.6

108.1

-1.6

2008

2009

Consumer sentiment index

117.5

5.8

133.3

11.3

111.1

3.3

115.7

4.2

136.5

11.4

107.4

0.9

III

113.8

2.2

123.0

0.1

110.1

3.2

111.9

-5.7

114.4

-13.9

111.0

-1.8

106.7

-9.2

112.7

-15.5

104.3

-6.1

114.1

-1.4

138.0

1.1

104.5

-2.7

III

118.8

4.4

138.0

12.2

111.1

0.9

122.5

9.5

147.0

28.5

112.6

1.4

2008 1

125.4

9.1

132.6

12.4

122.5

7.8

106.5

2.1

123.1

8.3

99.8

-0.7

120.6

5.7

144.2

12.8

111.1

2.3

119.8

7.3

144.2

20.3

110.1

1.7

115.7

2.4

136.9

9.3

107.2

-0.7

111.7

2.9

128.5

5.0

105.0

2.0

117.8

7.4

134.3

8.0

111.1

6.9

111.7

-1.1

118.6

-5.1

108.9

0.7

112.0

0.6

116.1

-2.8

110.3

2.1

119.7

-1.6

127.7

-6.4

116.6

0.8

107.0

-9.3

111.0

-15.8

105.4

-6.2

109.1

-6.3

104.4

-19.8

111.0

0.1

2009 1

106.4

-15.2

98.6

-25.6

109.5

-10.6

102.7

-3.6

115.1

-6.5

97.7

-2.1

110.9

-8.0

124.4

-13.7

105.6

-5.0

111.3

-7.1

119.1

-17.4

108.2

-1.7

112.7

-2.6

138.9

1.5

102.2

-4.7

105

118.2

5.8

156.1

21.5

103.0

-1.9

106

118.1

0.3

144.3

7.4

107.7

-3.1

109

110.0

-1.5

124.6

5.1

104.2

-4.3

114 114

128.2

14.5

145.0

24.9

121.5

10.2

120.2

0.4

138.8

8.7

112.7

-3.3

117

118.8

11.0

146.0

31.5

107.9

2.4

113

128.4

17.7

156.1

49.5

117.3

5.7

113

2010 1P

121.1

14.1

135.6

37.5

115.7

5.7

113

109.4

6.5

128.8

11.9

101.7

4.1

111

110

P: Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea & The Bank of Korea

Economic Bulletin

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

Estimated facility investment index (2005=100)

Domestic machinery shipment excluding ship (2005=100)

Total

Public

Private

20,718

3,735

16,983

9,111

105.4

110.4

I ll III IV

5,033 4,942 5,591 5,152

932 696 1,345 763

4,101 4,246 4,246 4,389

1,992 2,212 2,321 2,586

93.9 106.3 103.8 117.7

98.7 112.7 107.5 122.6

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1,575 1,682 1,775 1,457 1,377 2,108 2,494 1,340 1,757 1,541 1,942 1,669

232 518 181 91 96 508 1,073 71 200 84 433 246

1,344 1,164 1,594 1,366 1,280 1,600 1,421 1,268 1,557 1,458 1,509 1,422

714 531 746 678 658 883 754 653 914 836 941 810

86.3 92.8 102.5 100.7 103.2 115.1 97.8 97.5 116.2 108.2 116.7 128.2

85.2 97.8 113.1 110.9 104.2 123.0 107.5 98.2 116.8 109.1 116.3 142.3

1,752 1,630

169 107

1,583 1,523

1,010 880

103.0 109.5

111.8 105.1

2009 2009

2010

1P 2P

Manufacturing

Y-o-Y change (%) 2009

-11.8

61.7

-19.9

-27.2

-8.0

-5.2

I ll III IV

-35.5 -17.7 3.4 20.0

150.8 29.9 280.2 -27.2

-44.8 -22.3 -16.0 35.2

-59.1 -27.6 -19.4 51.5

-17.9 -12.9 -10.0 10.2

-12.7 -8.0 -6.4 6.4

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

-49.1 -27.5 -25.5 -27.4 -25.4 -2.0 6.1 -19.6 26.5 -7.9 56.2 21.2

56.5 661.0 16.8 -4.1 8.9 44.5 498.5 -17.4 127.5 -79.0 110.1 -44.5

-54.4 -48.3 -28.4 -28.5 -27.1 -11.1 -34.6 -19.7 19.7 14.3 45.5 52.4

-64.6 -65.8 -42.6 -39.1 -26.6 -16.6 -38.1 -30.7 27.3 16.5 74.6 79.5

-21.1 -12.0 -20.2 -18.7 -16.2 -3.4 -18.8 -15.4 5.4 -0.4 10.2 21.1

-20.7 -6.1 -11.4 -9.2 -15.8 1.1 -10.9 -9.9 1.6 -5.3 4.0 20.1

11.2 -3.1

-27.1 -79.4

17.8 30.9

41.4 65.7

19.4 18.0

31.2 7.5

2009

2010

1P 2P

P: Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

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

(current prices, billion won)

Period

Type of order

Private

Public

Private

32,393

52,562

107,011

50,771

51,914

Public

89,863

2009

Type of order

Domestic construction orders received (total)

Value of construction completed (total)

2009

I ll llI lV

19,130 23,628 22,106 25,000

6,570 8,665 7,875 9,284

11,544 13,577 13,029 14,412

18,104 26,392 19,719 42,795

9,219 17,747 8,826 14,980

8,263 7,760 9,971 25,920

2009

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

6,063 6,102 6,964 7,433 7,227 8,971 6,988 6,719 8,398 7,301 8,060 9,639

2,150 2,039 2,381 2,636 2,597 3,431 2,362 2,427 3,085 2,585 2,780 3,919

3,623 3,751 4,170 4,416 4,208 4,953 4,252 3,929 4,848 4,354 4,854 5,204

5,674 4,949 7,481 7,513 7,151 11,728 6,009 4,660 9,050 10,570 14,538 17,688

2,679 2,758 3,782 5,752 4,434 7,561 3,314 1,756 3,756 4,700 5,101 5,179

2,728 2,065 3,471 1,488 2,596 3,677 2,398 2,807 4,766 5,616 8,853 11,451

6,414 6,082

2,222 2,276

3,924 3,576

6,643 4,615

2,286 2,109

4,074 2,163

2010

1P 2P

Y-o-Y change (%) 2009

3.3

21.2

-5.7

3.0

60.9

-21.9

2009

I ll llI lV

4.3 6.4 -1.2 3.7

24.5 31.9 21.3 10.7

-5.3 -5.9 -11.8 0.4

-12.0 -1.1 7.6 11.6

33.1 182.9 78.9 11.6

-37.3 -60.2 -14.3 17.3

2009

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

-0.5 11.2 3.1 5.5 -1.6 14.6 -2.8 -8.2 6.8 -5.9 3.2 12.9

25.2 34.2 16.7 34.0 16.8 44.4 16.6 14.1 31.9 3.5 8.1 18.3

-11.4 1.0 -5.0 -5.2 -11.4 -1.3 -11.6 -18.9 -5.4 -10.1 1.7 9.8

0.3 -19.0 -14.9 -10.7 -17.9 22.7 -1.8 -27.0 55.3 28.8 78.8 -19.6

64.4 39.7 13.8 234.8 70.5 286.7 135.8 6.7 99.6 90.8 63.3 -33.9

-31.2 -47.3 -34.5 -77.1 -55.5 -48.9 -42.7 -36.6 57.4 16.2 92.5 -9.6

5.8 -0.3

3.4 11.6

8.3 -4.7

17.1 -6.7

-14.7 -23.5

49.4 4.7

2010

1P 2P

P: Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea

Economic Bulletin

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

Period

Leading index (2005=100)

Y-o-Y change (%)

Coincident index (2005=100)

Cycle of coincident index (2005=100)

BSI (results)

BSI (prospects)

2007 1

109.1

5.3

110.7

101.3

85.6

96.5

110.0

5.8

111.1

101.3

87.5

93.4

110.4

5.8

111.7

101.4

109.4

112.3

111.1

6.0

112.3

101.5

105.8

107.7

111.4

5.8

112.9

101.6

104.1

110.9

112.3

6.2

113.8

101.9

100.2

105.6

113.3

6.7

114.7

102.4

95.8

99.3

114.0

7.0

115.5

102.6

94.4

102.5

114.7

7.1

115.7

102.3

101.5

111.8

115.4

7.2

116.2

102.4

108.3

116.3

116.2

7.4

116.9

102.6

106.0

112.4

116.6

7.2

118.0

103.1

98.9

103.4

2008 1

116.3

6.3

119.1

103.6

95.2

103.0

115.6

5.0

119.3

103.4

95.6

94.8

115.2

3.9

119.7

103.3

101.1

102.1

115.1

3.2

119.7

102.8

101.7

98.1

115.1

2.6

119.9

102.6

98.1

104.7

114.6

1.5

119.7

102.0

79.1

95.3

114.0

0.5

119.9

101.8

80.8

83.2

113.8

-0.1

120.2

101.6

83.1

80.8

113.6

-0.7

120.5

101.4

76.8

98.3

112.7

-1.8

120.3

100.8

64.6

84.9

111.1

-3.4

118.7

99.1

53.7

63.7

110.4

-4.2

116.0

96.4

52.4

55.0

2009 1

110.8

-3.9

113.7

94.1

58.1

52.0

112.2

-2.6

113.9

93.9

62.4

66.0

113.5

-1.4

115.3

94.6

89.0

76.1

115.4

0.4

117.3

95.9

93.7

86.7

117.6

2.7

118.4

96.3

100.9

103.8

120.3

5.5

120.5

97.7

96.6

100.2

122.1

7.6

121.8

98.3

98.5

98.7

123.2

8.8

122.8

98.7

96.0

99.8

123.9

9.6

123.6

98.9

110.5

117.0

124.7

10.3

124.1

98.9

107.5

116.5

126.1

11.3

124.7

99.0

103.8

109.0

127.0

11.6

125.2

98.9

104.8

105.9

2010 1

127.4

11.3

126.2

99.3

99.2

103.1

127.1

10.3

127.7

100.0

98.7

102.3

113.1

116.2

111.2

P: Preliminary Source: Statistics Korea & The Federation of Korean Industries

April 2010

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

Current balance

Period

Goods trade balance

Exports

Imports

Services trade balance

Income trade balance

Current transfers

2008

-5,776.3

5,669.1

422,007.3

435,274.7

-16,671.5

5,900.0

-673.9

2009

42,667.6

56,127.6

363,533.6

323,084.5

-17,202.7

4,553.6

-810.9

-4,866.4

-1,375.4

99,444.5

106,052.9

-4,936.9

1,979.7

-533.8

2008

2009

2008

2009

I II

-411.5

5,526.4

114,492.0

114,792.8

-4,460.5

-521.1

-956.3

III

-8,329.7

-3,230.5

115,000.1

122,901.0

-5,837.8

1,503.3

-764.7

7,831.3

4,748.6

93,070.6

91,528.0

-1,436.3

2,938.1

1,580.9

8,618.2

8,308.8

74,421.4

71,417.5

-1,926.2

922.3

1,313.3

13,097.4

17,576.0

90,360.4

73,970.2

-4,167.7

292.7

-603.6

III

10,395.5

14,702.5

94,780.5

84,845.1

-5,334.5

1,690.7

-663.2

10,556.5

15,540.3

103,971.3

92,851.8

-5,774.3

1,647.9

-857.4

-2,343.6

-935.1

32,274.6

36,318.0

-1,957.3

840.3

-291.5

-2,372.0

-524.2

31,178.2

32,624.3

-2,205.7

792.3

-434.4

-150.8

83.9

35,991.8

37,110.6

-773.9

347.1

192.1

-1,578.8

1,733.1

37,850.2

38,260.4

-1,072.9

-1,914.2

-324.8

-566.7

367.0

39,383.2

38,704.5

-1,215.3

563.5

-281.9

1,734.0

3,426.3

37,258.6

37,827.9

-2,172.3

829.6

-349.6

-2,433.9

487.2

40,961.2

42,952.5

-2,719.6

350.0

-551.5

-4,676.2

-2,926.8

36,610.6

40,420.4

-1,962.9

427.4

-213.9

-1,219.6

-790.9

37,428.3

39,528.1

-1,155.3

725.9

0.7

4,644.8

2,102.2

37,111.1

36,098.8

180.5

1,590.6

771.5

2,408.2

1,230.4

28,841.6

28,853.6

-70.0

757.4

490.4

778.3

1,416.0

27,117.9

26,575.6

-1,546.8

590.1

319.0

-1,612.3

-1,762.2

21,133.4

24,898.8

-710.5

596.4

264.0

3,585.8

3,100.1

25,397.1

22,598.1

-540.4

510.5

515.6

6,644.7

6,970.9

27,890.8

23,920.6

-675.3

-184.6

533.7

4,274.1

6,105.2

30,326.5

24,873.8

-1,117.3

-803.1

89.3

3,442.6

4,872.3

27,823.8

23,407.0

-1,524.4

389.6

-294.9

5,380.7

6,598.5

32,210.0

25,689.3

-1,526.0

706.2

-398.0

4,419.5

6,114.5

31,908.5

27,679.8

-1,898.0

511.1

-308.1

1,922.1

3,319.5

28,949.6

27,408.2

-1,803.4

617.7

-211.7

4,053.9

5,268.5

33,922.4

29,757.1

-1,633.1

561.9

-143.4

4,757.3

5,675.1

33,970.0

30,396.5

-1,312.6

559.4

-164.6

4,277.7

5,842.3

33,991.6

29,534.7

-1,662.7

390.0

-291.9

1,521.5

4,022.9

36,009.6

32,920.5

-2,799.0

698.5

-400.9

2010 P 1

-630.8

1,376.4

30,802.0

31,447.9

-2,164.4

465.4

-308.2

157.6

1,532.2

33,105.0

31,004.3

-1,778.0

565.4

-162.0

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

Economic Bulletin

10. Balance of payments (II) See graph 10-3 (million US$)

Period

Capital & financial account

Direct investment

2008

-50,083.6

2009P

26,447.9 I ll

2008

Capital transfers Other & acquisition of investment non-financial assets

Changes in reserve assets

Errors and omissions

Portfolio investment

Financial derivative

-15,632.6

-2,405.6

-14,769.9

-17,384.8

109.3

56,446.0

-586.1

-9,065.8

50,681.6

-5,538.1

-10,817.1

1,187.3

-69,061.1

-54.4

1,990.3

-5,781.5

-4,401.5

-1,249.5

13,533.2

-110.4

3,850.0

-973.9

-3,160.7

-4,140.0

8,356.7

-1,240.7

-5,909.9

-226.8

5,717.7

-2,145.5

III

-6,286.4

-3,661.1

-9,421.3

-3,550.4

10,564.1

-217.7

12,883.1

1,733.0

-42,626.8

-2,050.0

3,060.5

-8,729.3

-35,572.2

664.2

33,995.2

800.3

2009P I

-1,399.2

-2,045.4

3,532.3

-4,893.6

1,282.5

725.0

-9,017.4

1,798.4

8,682.0

-172.1

16,740.2

-614.9

-7,566.0

294.8

-19,541.8

-2,237.6

III

14,399.1

-2,137.6

19,914.7

-1,296.5

-2,258.0

176.5

-23,886.9

-907.7

4,766.0

-4,710.7

10,494.4

1,266.9

-2,275.6

-9.0

-16,615.0

1,292.5

2008 1

1,171.9

-3,002.7

-949.8

-130.4

5,313.5

-58.7

1,436.1

-264.4

202.3

-90.9

-3,144.5

-298.1

3,750.7

-14.9

1,703.1

466.6

616.1

-2,687.9

-307.2

-821.0

4,469.0

-36.8

710.8

-1,176.1

-835.4

-2,561.0

4,093.1

-560.3

-1,720.5

-86.7

2,411.3

2.9

-113.8

-683.4

9,168.1

-627.6

-7,921.8

-49.1

2,264.6

-1,584.1

-2,211.5

-895.6

-4,904.5

-52.8

3,732.4

-91.0

1,041.8

-564.3

-6,014.3

-1,465.4

-7,025.3

-551.2

3,204.5

-176.9

9,171.4

-723.2

5,113.2

-1,428.7

-343.4

-69.3

7,062.4

-107.8

-1,215.2

778.2

-5,385.3

-767.0

-2,052.6

-2,929.9

297.2

67.0

4,926.9

1,678.0 -1,170.6

-23,462.3

-978.9

5,004.0

-3,888.3

-23,952.6

353.5

19,988.1

-13,488.5

-615.2

-2,524.0

-1,347.1

-9,215.7

213.5

10,904.2

176.1

-5,676.0

-455.9

580.5

-3,493.9

-2,403.9

97.2

3,102.9

1,794.8

2009P 1

4,655.2

-538.7

5,678.8

-248.5

-379.9

143.5

-4,488.6

1,445.7

-3,216.5

-785.8

161.4

-2,312.2

-609.6

338.7

-1,260.0

890.7

-2,837.9

-720.9

-2,307.9

-2,323.9

2,272.0

242.8

-3,268.8

-538.0

2,193.3

112.4

7,133.0

-679.8

-4,532.5

160.2

-5,444.1

-1,023.3

6,707.8

-574.5

4,263.5

1,341.1

1,586.6

91.1

-10,248.6

98.2

-219.1

290.0

5,343.7

-1,276.2

-4,620.1

43.5

-3,849.1

-1,312.5

2,200.5

-1,323.9

7,940.1

-272.7

-4,379.0

236.0

-5,573.6

-1,046.4

5,296.9

-276.1

4,063.5

-721.0

2,177.0

53.5

-7,095.2

-123.8

6,901.7

-537.6

7,911.1

-302.8

-56.0

-113.0

-11,218.1

262.5

1,582.9

-509.0

6,130.5

-572.9

-3,477.9

12.2

-7,966.2

1,626.0

1,544.2

-2,835.0

3,389.4

848.7

193.9

-52.8

-5,637.4

-184.5

1,638.9

-1,366.7

974.5

991.1

1,008.4

31.6

-3,011.4

-149.0

2010 P 1

4,466.9

-1,679.9

151.9

49.8

6,015.1

-70.0

-5,250.9

1,414.8

251.1

-763.5

3,126.2

254.5

-2,322.9

-43.2

714.7

-1,123.4

P: Preliminary Source: The Bank of Korea

April 2010

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

Consumer prices

Export & import prices

Period All Items

Commodity

Service

Core

All items

Commodity

Export

Import

2008 2009

109.7 112.8

109.9 113.6

109.6 112.2

108.6 112.5

111.1 110.9

112.5 111.9

109.5 109.2

143.7 137.7

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

106.8 107.2 108.2 108.8 109.7 110.4 111.2 111.0 111.1 111.0 110.7 110.7

106.3 106.6 107.1 108.2 110.0 111.5 112.9 112.2 112.1 111.7 110.3 110.2

107.1 107.5 108.9 109.2 109.5 109.7 110.1 110.3 110.4 110.6 110.9 111.0

105.6 106.0 107.2 107.7 108.2 108.7 109.2 109.4 109.9 110.1 110.4 110.9

104.7 105.7 107.1 109.4 111.5 113.3 115.5 115.2 114.8 114.4 111.8 109.9

104.4 105.7 107.5 110.3 113.1 115.5 118.1 117.6 117.0 116.7 113.3 110.9

93.7 94.8 100.8 103.3 110.7 112.0 112.1 110.5 115.6 124.5 120.4 115.0

118.4 121.6 131.5 136.5 151.1 155.2 156.8 149.9 153.4 159.7 149.1 140.6

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

110.8 111.6 112.4 112.7 112.7 112.6 113.0 113.4 113.5 113.2 113.4 113.8

110.4 112.1 113.3 113.8 113.6 113.3 113.9 114.5 114.6 113.9 114.2 115.0

111.1 111.2 111.8 112.0 112.0 112.1 112.5 112.7 112.7 112.8 112.9 113.0

111.1 111.5 112.0 112.2 112.4 112.5 112.7 112.8 112.9 113.0 113.2 113.3

109.6 110.3 110.8 111.0 110.1 109.8 111.1 111.7 111.8 110.9 111.3 111.9

110.4 111.5 112.1 112.1 111.0 110.5 112.1 112.9 113.0 111.8 112.5 113.1

111.1 116.5 118.4 112.2 106.3 108.3 109.0 109.3 107.3 104.0 104.3 105.1

138.1 143.5 145.4 134.1 130.0 136.7 136.6 139.5 136.8 135.3 137.9 138.6

2010 1 2 3

114.2 114.6 115.0

115.6 116.1 116.9

113.3 113.6 113.8

113.4 113.6 113.7 Y-o-Y change (%)

112.7 113.0 113.7

113.9 114.5 115.3

103.5 104.7 104.0

136.9 137.6 139.2

2008 2009

4.7 2.8

6.2 3.4

3.7 2.4

4.2 3.6

8.6 -0.2

10.8 -0.5

21.8 -0.2

36.2 -4.1

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

3.9 3.6 3.9 4.1 4.9 5.5 5.9 5.6 5.1 4.8 4.5 4.1

4.8 4.2 4.7 5.3 7.0 8.6 9.3 8.4 7.1 6.3 5.1 4.4

3.2 3.2 3.5 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.9 4.0 3.9 3.9 4.1 4.0

2.8 2.8 3.3 3.5 3.9 4.3 4.6 4.7 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.6

4.2 5.1 6.0 7.6 9.0 10.5 12.5 12.3 11.3 10.7 7.8 5.6

4.8 6.1 7.3 9.3 11.3 13.6 16.1 15.6 14.4 14.0 9.9 6.9

5.8 7.6 13.4 15.7 24.0 25.2 25.1 21.9 27.4 38.6 31.5 25.0

21.2 22.2 28.0 31.3 44.6 49.0 50.6 42.6 42.6 47.1 32.0 22.4

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

3.7 4.1 3.9 3.6 2.7 2.0 1.6 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.4 2.8

3.9 5.2 5.8 5.2 3.3 1.6 0.9 2.0 2.2 2.0 3.5 4.4

3.7 3.4 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.8 1.8

5.2 5.2 4.5 4.2 3.9 3.5 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.2

4.7 4.4 3.5 1.5 -1.3 -3.1 3.8 -3.0 -2.6 -3.1 -0.4 1.8

5.7 5.5 4.3 1.6 -1.9 -4.3 -5.1 -4.0 -3.4 -4.2 -0.7 2.0

18.6 22.9 17.4 7.7 -4.1 -3.3 -2.7 -1.1 -7.2 -16.5 -13.4 -8.6

16.7 18.0 10.6 -1.8 -13.9 -11.9 -12.9 -7.0 -10.8 -15.3 -7.5 -1.4

2010 1 2 3

3.1 2.7 2.3

4.7 3.6 3.2

2.0 2.2 1.8

2.1 1.9 1.5

2.8 2.4 2.6

3.2 2.7 2.9

-6.9 -10.2 -12.2

-0.9 -4.1 -4.3

Source: The Bank of Korea

Economic Bulletin

12. Employment See graphs 8-1, 8-2 & 8-3 Wage workers (thous.)

Economically active persons (thous.) Period

Employed persons (thous.)

Unemployment (%) Regular

Temporary

Daily

All industry Manufacturing S.O.C&service 2008 2009

24,347 24,394

23,577 23,506

3,963 3,836

17,906 17,998

3.2 3.6

16,206 16,454

9,007 9,390

5,079 5,101

2,121 1,963

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

23,738 23,703 24,114 24,495 24,692 24,727 24,673 24,380 24,456 24,582 24,566 24,032

22,964 22,884 23,305 23,711 23,939 23,963 23,903 23,617 23,734 23,847 23,816 23,245

4,022 4,017 3,999 4,001 3,987 3,993 3,975 3,899 3,928 3,945 3,897 3,888

17,651 17,510 17,732 17,929 18,046 18,067 18,088 17,872 17,951 18,005 18,086 17,935

3.3 3.5 3.4 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.3

16,032 15,836 15,993 16,258 16,405 16,385 16,363 16,104 16,221 16,314 16,377 16,189

8,815 8,804 8,898 8,894 9,010 9,039 9,054 9,107 9,142 9,138 9,111 9,068

5,115 5,055 5,023 5,127 5,165 5,132 5,163 4,970 5,015 5,034 5,071 5,082

2,102 1,977 2,073 2,238 2,231 2,214 2,146 2,027 2,064 2,142 2,195 2,040

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

23,709 23,667 24,062 24,456 24,658 24,927 24,756 24,525 24,630 24,655 24,625 24,063

22,861 22,742 23,110 23,524 23,720 23,967 23,828 23,620 23,805 23,856 23,806 23,229

3,895 3,842 3,813 3,846 3,846 3,836 3,802 3,761 3,810 3,858 3,855 3,872

17,663 17,539 17,701 17,899 18,016 18,251 18,210 18,048 18,155 18,130 18,267 18,104

3.6 3.9 4.0 3.8 3.8 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.4 3.2 3.3 3.5

16,053 15,953 16,076 16,353 16,484 16,736 16,589 16,479 16,687 16,690 16,790 16,555

9,102 9,194 9,174 9,227 9,316 9,340 9,383 9,472 9,606 9,628 9,603 9,632

4,982 4,862 4,941 5,051 5,076 5,281 5,255 5,117 5,151 5,170 5,256 5,074

1,969 1,897 1,961 2,076 2,092 2,115 1,952 1,890 1,931 1,892 1,931 4,860

2010 1 2 3

24,082 24,035 24,382

22,865 22,867 23,377

3,924 3,886 3,924

16,297 16,282 16,617

9,712 9,786 9,926

4,860 4,838 4,976

1,725 1,657 1,714

2008 2009

0.5 0.2

0.6 -0.3

-1.3 -3.2

17,796 5.0 17,762 4.9 18,047 4.1 Y-o-Y change (%) 1.3 0.5 -

1.5 1.5

4.5 4.3

-1.8 0.4

-2.6 -7.4

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.2

1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.3 -0.1

-0.6 -0.3 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1.1 -1.2 -1.2 -1.6 -2.3 -2.2 -3.3

1.8 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.2 0.7 0.6

2.4 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.5

5.2 4.8 5.5 5.2 5.6 4.9 4.4 3.9 3.6 3.5 3.6 3.6

-1.2 -1.4 -3.2 -2.1 -1.8 -1.6 -1.7 -1.5 -1.7 -1.7 -2.0 -1.8

0.2 -1.9 -1.8 -1.7 -3.2 -3.3 -2.4 -2.3 -3.2 -2.8 -2.5 -6.3

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

-0.1 -0.2 -0.2 -0.2 -0.1 0.8 0.3 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.1

-0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -0.8 -0.9 0.0 -0.3 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 -0.1

-3.2 -4.4 -4.7 -3.9 -3.5 -3.9 -4.3 -3.5 -3.0 -2.2 -1.1 -0.4

0.1 0.2 -0.2 -0.2 -0.2 1.0 0.7 1.0 1.1 0.7 1.0 0.9

0.1 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.5 2.1 1.4 2.3 2.9 2.3 2.5 2.3

3.3 4.4 3.1 3.7 3.4 3.3 3.6 4.0 5.1 5.4 5.4 6.2

-2.6 -3.8 -1.6 -1.5 -1.7 2.9 1.8 3.0 2.7 2.7 3.7 -0.2

-6.3 -4.1 -5.4 -7.2 -6.2 -4.5 -9.1 -6.7 -6.5 -11.7 -12.0 -9.3

2010 1 2 3

1.6 1.6 1.3

0.0 0.5 1.2

0.8 1.2 2.9

0.8 1.3 2.0

1.5 2.1 3.4

6.7 6.4 8.2

-2.4 -0.5 0.7

-12.4 -12.6 -12.6

Source: Statistics Korea

April 2010

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)

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

3.7 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.2 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

4.2 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.8

5.5 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.0 4.9 5.1 5.2

5.0 4.9 4.9 5.0 4.8 4.9 4.9 4.8 4.7 4.6 4.7 4.8

5.3 5.0 5.1 5.2 4.9 5.0 5.0 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.9

1,399.80 1,371.60 1,359.60 1,419.70 1,371.70 1,295.70 1,297.80 1,352.70 1,371.40 1,364.60 1,432.20 1,434.50

2007 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

4.6 4.6 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.5 4.7 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0

4.9 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.7

5.3 5.3 5.2 5.3 5.5 5.6 5.8 5.7 5.9 6.0 6.2 6.7

5.0 4.9 4.8 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.5 5.9

5.0 4.9 4.8 5.0 5.1 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.9

1,360.20 1,417.30 1,452.60 1,542.24 1,700.91 1,743.60 1,933.27 1,873.24 1,946.48 2,064.95 1,906.00 1,897.10

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.2 5.2 4.9 4.0 3.3

5.8 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.5 5.8 5.8 6.0 5.6 4.7

6.6 6.3 6.1 5.9 6.2 6.7 7.0 7.1 7.5 8.0 8.6 8.4

5.4 5.1 5.2 5.0 5.3 5.7 6.0 5.8 5.8 5.1 5.0 4.0

5.5 5.1 5.2 5.0 5.4 5.8 6.0 5.8 5.8 5.2 5.2 4.3

1,624.68 1,711.62 1,703.99 1,825.47 1,852.02 1,674.92 1,594.67 1,474.24 1,448.06 1,113.06 1,076.07 1,124.47

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

2.4 2.1 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0

3.2 2.7 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.8

7.3 7.1 6.1 5.7 5.2 5.2 5.5 5.7 5.6 5.6 5.4 5.4

3.4 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.8 4.1 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.3 4.2

4.0 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.7 4.6 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.8 4.8

1,162.11 1,063.03 1,206.26 1,369.40 1,395.89 1,390.07 1,577.29 1,591.85 1,673.14 1,580.69 1,555.60 1,682.77

2010 1 2 3

2.0 2.0 2.0

2.9 2.9 2.8

5.4 5.3 5.0

4.3 4.2 3.9

4.8 4.8 4.5

1,602.43 1,594.58 1,692.85

Source: The Bank of Korea

Economic Bulletin

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

Period

(billion won)

Reserve money

2008 2009

52,272.8 61,739.6

307,273.6 357,344.1

1,367,713.4 1,508,550.4

1,794,841.2 1,937,336.0

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

50,260.5 52,563.7 49,571.5 50,683.6 50,502.5 51,274.4 50,600.6 51,981.0 53,303.9 52,976.5 54,254.5 59,300.7

305,868.0 304,580.7 299,792.8 298,474.4 304,239.8 305,514.3 306,584.4 304,538.7 307,067.8 310,565.5 316,330.9 323,725.9

1,286,407.8 1,309,161.7 1,324,032.7 1,339,434.9 1,356,612.9 1,369,728.1 1,378,914.3 1,386,101.1 1,395,719.2 1,403,984.2 1,426,165.1 1,436,298.3

1,711,196.8 1,726,407.2 1,743,481.7 1,762,945.3 1,782,721.1 1,798,774.9 1,801,540.6 1,810,535.1 1,831,313.4 1,845,717.7 1,859,348.8 1,864,111.6

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

64,040.6 63,061.7 65,669.5 61,379.9 60,082.5 59,530.3 59,420.2 60,570.3 59,650.3 63,681.7 61,154.5 62,633.2

331,358.0 334,521.7 342,777.0 350,446.0 355,922.0 362,111.3 363,421.4 361,012.4 367,070.3 371,531.7 370,979.7 376,977.3

1,440,275.8 1,457,931.3 1,470,443.1 1,482,009.7 1,491,542.7 1,501,898.3 1,512,822.5 1,524,879.7 1,535,279.8 1,551,319.5 1,564,175.8 1,570,027.1

1,868,843.3 1,879,102.7 1,889,071.5 1,897,923.7 1,913,084.5 1,925,418.1 1,940,223.0 1,956,130.6 1,972,408.5 1,990,372.5 2,000,503.6 2,014,950.4

2010 1 2

65,054.7 66,563.8

381,218.2 387,858.6

1,574,215.8 1,595,403.8

2,019,563.5 2,041,164.1

Y-o-Y change (%) 2008 2009

7.7 18.1

-1.8 16.3

14.3 10.3

11.9 7.9

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

5.0 6.2 1.3 6.7 5.0 7.0 6.5 8.7 9.1 7.3 11.1 17.8

-13.5 -13.2 -10.6 -2.3 1.0 1.0 1.4 2.2 2.7 4.2 5.5 5.2

12.5 13.4 13.9 14.9 15.8 15.1 14.8 14.7 14.5 14.2 14.0 13.1

11.4 11.6 11.9 12.7 13.1 12.7 12.1 11.8 12.2 11.9 11.4 10.4

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

27.4 20.0 32.5 21.1 19.0 16.1 17.4 16.5 11.9 20.2 12.7 5.6

8.3 9.8 14.3 17.4 17.0 18.5 18.5 18.5 19.5 19.6 17.3 16.4

12.0 11.4 11.1 10.6 9.9 9.6 9.7 10.0 10.0 10.5 9.7 9.3

9.2 8.8 8.4 7.7 7.3 7.0 7.7 8.0 7.7 7.8 7.6 8.1

2010 1 2

1.6 5.6

15.0 15.9

9.3 9.4

8.1 8.6

P: Preliminary Source: The Bank of Korea

April 2010

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

/US$

/100

/Euro

Period End-period

Average

End-period

Average

End-period

Average

2008 2009

1,257.5 1,167.6

1,102.6 1,276.4

1,393.9 1,262.8

1,076.6 1,363.1

1,776.2 1,674.3

1,606.8 1,774.4

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

943.9 937.3 991.7 999.7 1,031.4 1,043.4 1,008.5 1,081.8 1,187.7 1,291.4 1,482.7 1,257.5

942.4 944.7 979.9 986.7 1,036.7 1,029.3 1,019.1 1,041.5 1,130.4 1,326.9 1,390.1 1,373.8

889.1 889.7 1,000.2 961.8 977.0 981.8 932.9 987.9 1,144.2 1,306.0 1,553.8 1,393.9

872.9 880.6 972.3 962.4 994.2 963.0 954.2 953.0 1,060.6 1,327.1 1,435.1 1,503.3

1,402.3 1,423.5 1,565.0 1,556.2 1,599.6 1,647.1 1,571.0 1,590.3 1,707.2 1,664.4 1,912.6 1,776.2

1,386.2 1,395.4 1,519.5 1,555.1 1,614.6 1,601.7 1,606.4 1,561.6 1,627.6 1,765.3 1,768.9 1,846.1

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1,368.5 1,516.4 1,377.1 1,348.0 1,272.9 1,284.7 1,240.5 1,244.9 1,188.7 1,200.6 1,167.4 1,167.6

1,346.1 1,429.5 1,462.0 1,341.9 1,258.7 1,261.4 1,264.0 1,238.4 1,219.2 1,175.3 1,164.2 1,166.5

1,521.0 1,541.1 1,414.8 1,382.9 1,314.1 1,336.3 1,299.2 1,332.8 1,318.8 1,312.6 1,348.3 1,262.8

1,487.2 1,546.1 1,495.7 1,356.2 1,304.5 1,305.5 1,338.1 1,304.3 1,332.4 1,300.8 1,304.4 1,300.8

1,768.7 1,930.1 1,816.4 1,786.8 1,772.7 1,809.3 1,745.9 1,779.1 1,734.3 1,781.3 1,751.7 1,674.3

1,793.8 1,829.9 1,904.0 1,771.6 1,719.1 1,767.8 1,778.8 1,776.3 1,774.2 1,742.9 1,736.6 1,703.7

2010 1 2 3

1,156.5 1,158.4 1,130.8

1,138.8 1,157.1 1,137.6

1,248.3 1,281.7 1,255.8

1,614.6 1,569.2 1,518.2

1,627.5 1,584.5 1,544.9

2008 2009

34.0 -7.1

18.7 15.8

67.3 -9.4

36.3 26.6

28.6 -5.7

26.2 10.4

2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

0.3 -0.1 5.5 7.6 10.9 12.6 9.2 15.1 29.0 42.3 59.5 34.0

0.6 0.8 3.9 5.9 11.7 10.9 10.9 11.5 21.2 44.9 51.6 47.7

15.0 12.1 25.5 23.6 27.8 30.5 20.4 22.0 43.6 65.1 83.6 67.3

12.2 13.4 20.8 22.8 29.4 27.2 26.3 19.2 30.8 67.8 73.7 81.5

14.9 14.6 24.8 22.8 28.1 32.2 24.0 24.0 31.0 27.1 39.4 28.6

13.9 13.9 21.6 23.6 28.7 28.7 27.5 22.7 26.1 35.5 31.5 36.2

2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

45.0 61.8 38.9 34.8 23.4 23.1 23.0 15.1 0.1 -7.0 -21.3 -7.1

42.8 51.3 49.2 36.0 21.4 22.5 24.0 18.9 7.9 -11.4 -16.2 -15.1

71.1 73.2 41.5 43.8 34.5 36.1 39.3 34.9 15.3 0.5 -13.2 -9.4

70.4 75.6 53.8 40.9 31.2 35.6 40.2 36.9 25.6 -2.0 -9.1 -13.5

26.1 35.6 16.1 14.8 10.8 9.9 11.1 11.9 1.6 7.0 -8.4 -5.7

29.4 31.1 25.3 13.9 6.5 10.4 10.7 13.1 9.0 -1.3 -1.8 -7.7

2010 1 2 3

-15.5 -23.6 -17.9

-15.4 -19.1 -22.2

-15.4 -15.7 -13.9

-16.1 -17.1 -16.0

-8.7 -18.7 -16.4

-9.3 -13.4 -18.9

1,287.0 1,299.3 1,217.7 Y-o-Y change (%)

Source: The Bank of Korea

Economic Bulletin

Editor-in-Chief Park, Cheol-Kyu (MOSF) Editorial Board Kim, Young-Min (MOSF) Shim, Jae-Hak (KDI) Lee, In-Sook (KDI) Coordinators Kim, Dae-Hyun (MOSF) Cho, Hyun-Joo (KDI) Editors Lim, Keun-Hyuk (MOSF) Kim, Sun-Young (MOSF) Kang, Ji-Eun (KDI)

Useful Internet Websites Economy-related Websites Recommended

Ministry of Strategy and Finance http://english.mosf.go.kr Ministry of Knowledge Economy http://www.mke.go.kr/language/eng Financial Services Commission http://www.fsc.go.kr/eng Financial Supervisory Service http://english.fss.or.kr Fair Trade Commission http://eng.ftc.go.kr Ministry of Labor http://english.molab.go.kr/english The Bank of Korea http://www.bok.or.kr Statistics Korea http://kostat.go.kr