The country's GDP per capita is projected to reach $39,164 this year, up $2,750 or 7.6 percent from a year earlier, marking the largest annual increase in about five years.
The projected growth would be the strongest since 2021, when GDP per capita rose 11.5 percent amid the post-pandemic economic recovery.
South Korea's nominal GDP is projected to rise to around 3,006 trillion won this year, based on the government's forecast of a 12.3 percent nominal growth rate from last year's GDP of 2,676.67 trillion won. The figure was then converted into U.S. dollars using the average exchange rate of 1,487.19 won per dollar and divided by the country's estimated population of 51.6 million to calculate GDP per capita.
Analysts said that if the won strengthens against the U.S. dollar, South Korea could surpass the $40,000 GDP per capita threshold for the first time this year, about a decade after the country surpassed the $30,000 level in 2016.
The country's GDP per capita has fluctuated in recent years from $35,359 in 2018 to $33,652 in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic before recovering to $36,327 in 2024 and $36,414 last year.
The growth outlook has been driven largely by robust exports, particularly strong demand for memory chips and AI-related semiconductor products, which have pushed South Korea's exports to record levels.
However, South Korea still trails Taiwan in terms of GDP per capita, with Taiwan's government recently raising its GDP per capita forecast to $45,610 from an earlier estimate of $44,000, citing strong export growth.
Earlier in April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that South Korea's and Taiwan's GDP per capita for this year would reach $37,412 and $42,103, respectively.
The government last week unveiled a mid- to long-term economic goal that aims to achieve a potential growth rate of 3 percent, make South Korea one of the world's top four exporters, and raise gross national income (GNI) per capita, a gauge of the population's purchasing power, to $50,000 during President Lee Jae Myung's term.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
