Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.8 percent from the previous quarter and 3.8 percent from a year earlier in the January-March period, according to the Bank of Korea's final estimate. The figures were revised up from preliminary growth rates of 1.7 percent quarter-on-quarter and 3.6 percent year-on-year released in April.
The quarterly expansion was the strongest since the fourth quarter of 2021, when the economy also grew 1.8 percent, while the annual growth rate marked the fastest pace since the 4.1 percent recorded in the same quarter of 2021.
The upward revision reflected newly available data for the final month of the quarter, which showed stronger facilities investment and private consumption than initially estimated.
The data underscored the outsized role of Korea's semiconductor sector in the current expansion. Information technology industries contributed a record 19.9 percent of overall economic growth, fueled by booming demand for artificial intelligence-related chips and related investment.
Manufacturing output rose 3.9 percent from the previous quarter, driven by computers, electronics and optical products. ICT manufacturing output surged 15.4 percent, while non-ICT manufacturing contracted 0.9 percent, highlighting the widening gap between semiconductor-related industries and the rest of the industrial sector.
On the expenditure side, facilities investment jumped 6.6 percent from the previous quarter, reversing a decline in the preceding period as companies expanded spending on machinery and transportation equipment. Exports rose 5.9 percent, led by semiconductors and other IT products, while imports increased 3.9 percent on stronger purchases of machinery, equipment and automobiles.
Private consumption grew 0.6 percent as spending on both goods and services increased. Construction investment rose 1.4 percent, snapping a string of quarterly declines, while government consumption fell 0.4 percent due largely to lower health insurance benefit payments.
Real gross national income (GNI), a broader measure of national purchasing power, surged 9.2 percent from the previous quarter, far outpacing GDP growth and accelerating from a 1.8 percent increase in the fourth quarter, as a weak won and soaring chip prices improved South Korea's terms of trade while lifting income earned from exports and overseas investments
Real net factor income from abroad rose to 11.6 trillion won ($7.56 billion) in the first quarter from 8.2 trillion won in the previous quarter.
Nominal GDP expanded 10.5 percent from the previous quarter and 17.1 percent from a year earlier, while nominal GNI rose 11.0 percent on quarter. The GDP deflator climbed 12.9 percent from a year earlier, reflecting higher export prices and stronger corporate earnings.
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