OECD Economic Surveys: Korea 2018

Abstract

This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee (EDRC) of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries.

The economic situation and policies of Korea were reviewed by the Committee on 14 March 2018. The draft report was then revised in the light of the discussions and given final approval as the agreed report of the whole Committee on 24 May 2018.

The Secretariat’s draft report was prepared for the Committee by Randall S. Jones, Jae Wan Lee and Haruki Seitani under the supervision of Vincent Koen. Research assistance was provided by Lutécia Daniel. Secretarial assistance was provided by Sisse Nielsen and Mercedes Burgos.

The previous Survey of Korea was issued in May 2016.

Information about the latest as well as previous Surveys and more information about how Surveys are prepared is available at www.oecd.org/eco/surveys.

BASIC STATISTICS OF KOREA, 2016

(Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average)*

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE
Population (million)	50.8		Population density per km2	515.2	(37.2)
Under 15 (%)	13.6	(17.9)	Life expectancy (years, 2015)	82.1	(80.5)
Over 65 (%)	13.5	(16.6)	Men	79.0	(77.9)
Foreign (%, 2015)	2.3		Women	85.2	(83.1)
Latest 5-year average growth (%)	0.5	(0.6)	Latest general election	April 2016
ECONOMY
Gross domestic product (GDP)			Value added shares (%)
In current prices (billion USD)	1 415		Primary sector	2.1	(2.5)
In current prices (trillion KRW)	1 642		Industry including construction	38.7	(26.6)
Latest 5-year average real growth (%)	2.8	(1.9)	Services	59.2	(70.9)
Per capita (000 USD PPP)	36.6	(42.2)
GENERAL GOVERNMENT Per cent of GDP
						Expenditure	32.3	(40.6)	Gross financial debt	45.1	(110.2)
Revenue	34.7	(37.7)
EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS
Exchange rate (KRW per USD)	1 160		Main exports (% of total merchandise exports)
PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)	875		Machinery and transport equipment	58.7
In per cent of GDP			Manufactured goods	13.1
Exports of goods and services	42.3	(53.6)	Chemicals and related products, not elsewhere specified	12.0
Imports of goods and services	35.4	(49.3)	Main imports (% of total merchandise imports)
Current account balance	7.0	(0.2)	Machinery and transport equipment	35.1
Net international investment position	19.6		Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	20.1
			Manufactured goods	11.7
LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION
Employment rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)	66.1	(66.9)	Unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (age 15 and over) (%)	3.7	(6.3)
Men	75.9	(74.7)	Youth (age 15-24, %)	10.7	(13.0)
Women	56.1	(59.3)	Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %)	0.03	(2.0)
Participation rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)	68.7	(71.7)	Tertiary educational attainment 25-64 year-olds (%)	46.9	(35.7)
Average hours worked per year	2 069	(1 763)	Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP, 2015)	4.2	(2.4)
ENVIRONMENT
Total primary energy supply per capita (toe, 2015)	5.5	(4.1)	CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes, 2015)	11.6	(9.2)
Renewables (%, 2015)	1.5	(9.6)	Water abstractions per capita (1 000 m³, 2014)	0.5
Exposure to air pollution (more than 10 μg/m³ of PM2.5, % of population, 2015)	99.8	(75.2)	Municipal waste per capita (tonnes, 2015)	0.4	(0.5)
SOCIETY
Income inequality (Gini coefficient, 2015a)	0.295	(0.311)	Education outcomes (PISA score, 2015)
Relative poverty rate (%, 2015a)	13.8	(11.3)	Reading	517	(493)
Median disposable household income (000 USD PPP, 2015a)	21.1	(23.0)	Mathematics	524	(490)
Public and private spending (% of GDP)			Science	516	(493)
Health care	7.7	(9.0)	Share of women in parliament (%)	17.0	(28.7)
Pensions (2014b)	3.2	(9.1)	Net official development assistance (% of GNI)	0.16	(0.39)
Education (primary, secondary, post sec. non tertiary, 2014)	4.0	(3.7)

Better life index: www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org

* Where the OECD aggregate is not provided in the source database, a simple OECD average of latest available data is calculated where data exist for at least 29 member countries.

a. 2014 data for the OECD.

b. 2013 data for the OECD.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from the databases of the following organisations: OECD, International Energy Agency, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Inter-Parliamentary Union.