2018.12.0318:45:00UTC+00South Korea GDP Expands 0.6% In Q3

South Korea's gross domestic product advanced a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2018, the Bank of Korea said in Wednesday's preliminary reading.

That was in line with expectation and unchanged from the three months prior.

On the production side, manufacturing rose by 2.3 percent, with increased production of electrical & electronic equipment, such as semiconductors.

Construction contracted by 5.7 percent, with decreases in both building construction and civil engineering.

On the expenditure side, private consumption expanded by 0.5 percent, with that of semi-durable and non-durable goods rising. Government consumption increased by 1.5 percent, due to an expansion of expenditure in health care benefits.

Construction investment contracted by 6.7 percent, as investment in both building construction and civil engineering decreased. Facilities investment fell by 4.4 percent, led by reduced investment in machinery.

Exports expanded by 3.9 percent, with an increase in exports of semiconductors. Imports decreased by 0.7 percent, owing to a contraction in imports of machinery. Services rose by 0.5 percent, led by growth in health & social work, which offset a decline in cultural & other services

On an annualized basis, GDP gained 2.0 percent on year - shy of forecasts for 2.2 percent and down from 2.8 percent in the second quarter.

Nominal GNI increased by 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2018 relative to the quarter before, with a 1.4 percent rise in nominal gross domestic product (nominal GDP) and an increase of net factor income from the rest of the world.

Real gross national income added 0.7 percent on quarter but fell 0.2 percent on year.

The gross saving ratio (gross saving/gross national disposable income) stood at 35.4 percent, 0.8 percentage points higher than in the quarter before, as nominal gross national disposable income (+2.1 percent) increased more than the final consumption expenditure (+0.8 percent).

The gross domestic investment ratio (gross capital formation/GNDI) was 29.3 percent, 1.7 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter.