SEOUL -- A report released by the United Nations showed that South Korea’s economic growth is projected to grow at 2.4 percent in 2024. The figure is higher than the growth forecast for the country's gross domestic product for 2023 which stood at 1.4 percent.
According to the UN report titled "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024," South Korea's economic growth would increase to 2.4 percent this year thanks to the recovery in private investment in 2023. "Despite monetary tightening measures and rising financing costs, private investments recovered modestly in 2023, contributing to higher growth expectations for 2024," the intergovernmental organization said in the report published on January 4.
The UN analyzed that the country's growth rate decreased in 2023 mainly because of a slowdown in private consumption affected by consistently high inflation. Data from South Korea's national statistical information service showed that the country's inflation rate in September 2023 totaled 3.7 percent.
The UN predicted that global economic growth will decline to 2.4 percent in 2024 from last year's 2.7 percent, primarily due to the economic slowdown in advanced nations. The United States' growth rate is expected to fall to 1.4 percent this year from 2.5 percent in 2023, as well as the Japanese economy to 1.2 percent from 1.7 percent. China's growth will also decrease to 4.7 percent in 2024 from 5.3 percent last year.
According to the report, there is a possibility that the global trend for a low growth rate will continue for a long time. Although the UN forecast that the global economic growth rate will slightly increase to 2.7 percent in 2025, the organization said reaching the growth rate before the COVID-19 pandemic could be difficult. The UN estimates the pre-pandemic trend growth rate at 3.0 percent.
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