South Korean economy

Economy of South Korea

Seoul, the financial center of South Korea
Currency	₩10,000KRW = $8.648 USD
Fiscal year	calendar year the new year
Trade organizations	APEC, WTO, OECD, G-20
Statistics
GDP	Nominal: $1.4466 trillion (projected numbers) (2017) PPP: $1.9865 trillion (2017)
GDP rank	11th (nominal) / 14th (PPP)
GDP growth	2.7% (2016)
GDP per capita	$29,115 (nominal, IMF, 2017 est.) $39,276 (PPP, IMF, 2017 est.)
GDP by sector	Agriculture: 2.6%, industry: 39.2%, services: 58.2% (2010)
Inflation (CPI)	1.1%, Jan 2014
Population below poverty line	15% (below income of 19,179 USD 2007 est.)
Gini coefficient	30.2 (2015)
Labor force	25 million (2012 est.)
Labor force by occupation	Agriculture: 6.4%, industry: 24.2%, services: 69.4% (2011 est.)
Unemployment	3.1% (Oct. 2015)
Main industries	Electronics telecommunications automobile chemicals shipbuilding steel
Ease-of-doing-business rank	5th (2017)
External
Exports	$526.76 billion (6th)(2015)
Export goods	semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals
Main export partners	China 25.4%  United States 12.3%  Japan 5.6%  Hong Kong 4.8%  Singapore 4.2% (2014 est.)
Imports	$542.9 billion (7th; 2014 est.)
Import goods	machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics
Main import partners	China 17.1%  Japan 10.2%  United States 8.7%  Saudi Arabia 7%  Qatar 4.9%  Germany 4.1% (2014 est.)
Gross external debt	$430.9 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Public finances
Public debt	33.7% of GDP (2012 est.)
Revenues	$296.1 billion (2013 est.)
Expenses	$287.2 billion (2013 est.)
Economic aid	ODA, $900 million (donor) (2009) aid to North Korea excluded
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's: AA- (Domestic) AA- (Foreign) AA (T&C Assessment) Outlook: Stable Moody's: Aa2 Outlook: Stable Fitch: AA- Outlook: Stable
Foreign reserves	$368.1 billion (November 5, 2015 est.)
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

$29,115 (nominal, IMF, 2017 est.)

The economy of South Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia and the 11th largest in the world. It is a mixed economy dominated by family-owned conglomerates called chaebols, however, the dominance of chaebol is unlikely and at risk to support the transformation of Korean economy for the future generations. South Korea is famous for its spectacular rise from one of the poorest countries in the world to a developed, high-income country in just one generation. This economic miracle, commonly known as the Miracle on the Han River, brought South Korea to the ranks of elite countries in the OECD and the G-20. South Korea still remains one of the fastest growing developed countries in the world following the Great Recession. It is included in the group of Next Eleven countries that will dominate the global economy in the middle of the 21st century.

By creating favorable policy directive for economic development as preceded by Japanese economic recovery as the logistic supplying bastion for American troops in the Korean peninsula during and after the Korean War, South Korea's rigorous education system and the establishment of a highly motivated and educated populace is largely responsible for spurring the country's high technology boom and rapid economic development. Having almost no natural resources and always suffering from overpopulation in its small territory, which deterred continued population growth and the formation of a large internal consumer market, South Korea adapted an export-oriented economic strategy to fuel its economy, and in 2014, South Korea was the seventh largest exporter and seventh largest importer in the world. Bank of Korea and Korea Development Institute periodically release major economic indicators and economic trends of the economy of South Korea.