OECD Economic Surveys: Korea 2020

Abstract

This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee 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 23 June 2020.  The draft report was then revised in light of the discussions and given final approval as the agreed report of the whole Committee on 27 July 2020.

The Secretariat’s draft report was prepared for the Committee by Christophe André, Jinwoan Beom and Mathilde Pak, under the supervision of Vincent Koen. Alexander Hijzen and Stefan Thewissen, from the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS), provided sections on the labour market and the OECD’s new Jobs Strategy. Yvan Guillemette and Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter also contributed to the report. Research assistance was provided by Lutécia Daniel, Natia Mosiashvili and Agnès Puymoyen, and editorial support by Sisse Nielsen and Michelle Ortiz.

The previous Survey of Korea was issued in June 2018.

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

Basic statistics of Korea, 2018

(Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average) ^{1, 2}

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE
Population (million)	51.6			Population density per km²	529.7	(37.8)
Under 15 (%)	13.0	(17.8)		Life expectancy at birth (years, 2017)	82.6	(80.1)
Over 65 (%)	14.4	(17.1)		Men (2017)	79.7	(77.5)
International migrant stock (% of population, 2015)	2.6	(10.1)		Women (2017)	85.7	(82.9)
Latest 5-year average growth (%)	0.5	(0.6)		Latest general election	April 2020
ECONOMY
Gross domestic product (GDP)				Value added shares (%)
In current prices (billion USD)	1 725.2			Agriculture, forestry and fishing	1.9	(2.5)
In current prices (trillion KRW)	1 898.2			Industry including construction	37.2	(26.6)
Latest 5-year average real growth (2014-18,%)	3.0		(2.3)	Services	60.9	(70.9)
Per capita (thousand USD PPP)	42.1		(47.3)
GENERAL GOVERNMENT
Per cent of GDP
Expenditure	30.3	(40.3)		Gross financial debt (2017)	40.8	(109.5)
Revenue	33.4	(37.4)
EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS
Exchange rate (KRW per USD)	1099.6			Main exports (% of total merchandise exports)
PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)	870.8			Machinery and transport equipment	57.4
In per cent of GDP				Chemicals and related products, n.e.s.	13.4
Exports of goods and services	41.6	(55.5)		Manufactured goods	12.3
Imports of goods and services	37.0	(51.3)		Main imports (% of total merchandise imports)
Current account balance	4.5	(0.3)		Machinery and transport equipment	31.2
Net international investment position	24.0			Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	27.2
				Chemicals and related products, n.e.s.	10.3
LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION
Employment rate (aged 15 and over, %)	60.7	(57.3)		Unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (aged 15 and over, %)	3.8	(5.3)
Men	70.8	(65.5)		Youth (aged 15-24, %)	10.5	(11.1)
Women	50.9	(49.6)		Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %)	0.1	(1.5)
Participation rate (aged 15 and over, %)	63.1	(60.5)		Tertiary educational attainment (aged 25-64, %)	49.0	(36.9)
Average hours worked per year	1 993	(1734)		Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP, 2017)	4.6	(2.6)
ENVIRONMENT
Total primary energy supply per capita (toe)	5.6	(4.1)		CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes)	12.1	( 8.9)
Renewables (%)	1.9	(10.5)		Water abstractions per capita (1 000 m³, 2016)	0.5
Exposure to air pollution (more than 10 g/m³ of PM2.5, % of population, 2017)	99.2	(58.7)		Municipal waste per capita (tonnes, 2016, OECD: 2017)	0.4	(0.5)
SOCIETY
Income inequality (Gini coefficient, 2017, OECD: 2016)	0.355	(0.310)		Education outcomes (PISA score)
Relative poverty rate (%, 2017, OECD: 2016)	17.4	(11.6)		Reading	514	(489)
Median disposable household income (thousand USD PPP, 2017, OECD: 2016)	27.5	(23.6)		Mathematics	526	(492)
Public and private spending (% of GDP)				Science	519	(491)
Health care	8.1	(8.8)		Share of women in parliament (%)	17.0	(29.7)
Pensions (2017, OECD: 2015)	3.1	(8.5)		Net official development assistance (% of GNI, 2017)	0.1	(0.4)
Education (public, 2017)	4.6	(4.5)

1. The year is indicated in parenthesis if it deviates from the year in the main title of this table.

2. 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 80% member countries.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from databases of the following organisations: OECD, International Energy Agency, International Labour Organisation, International Monetary Fund, World Bank.