Small country in Northeast Asia with the most innovative economy continues to develop successfully. Despite their geographical size, in terms of GDP, South Korea and Russia are neighbors in the world rankings. Moreover, the smaller country has a stronger economy.
Economic Review
An advanced capitalist economy ranks world-leading in many indicators, including ease of doing business (5th) and innovativeness (1st). In 2017, South Korea ranked 11th in the world in terms of GDP with $1.53 trillion. In terms of GDP per capita ($27023.24), the country is in 31st place in the world rankings.
The country's leading industries are the automotive, petrochemical, semiconductor and steel industries. The country has long since entered the post-industrial phase, with the predominance of the non-material sector of the economy. In the structure of South Korea's GDP, 59% falls on the service sector, 39% on production and 2% on agriculture. The government encourages businesses to develop and implement technologies for the fourthindustrial revolution, especially in terms of artificial intelligence, robots and telecommunications equipment.
Foreign trade
The country owes its economic success, first of all, to international trade. The country's enterprises are focused on the production of products that have good export potential in recent years, especially those with high added value. South Korea is in the top 5 countries - exporters of high-tech products. In terms of total exports, the country is also in 5th place, in 2017 its volumes amounted to 577.4 billion US dollars.
Korea's top commodities for sale on the overseas market are integrated circuits ($68.3 billion), automobiles ($38.4 billion), petroleum products ($24.8 billion), and passenger and cargo ships ($20.1 billion). Doll.). Top export destinations: China, USA and Vietnam. Import volumes in 2017 amounted to $457.5 billion. The country buys most of all crude oil ($40.9 billion), followed by integrated circuits ($29.3 billion) and natural gas ($14.4 billion). Most goods are purchased in China, Japan and the USA.
Economy volumes
In the 50s, the main share of South Korea's GDP came from agriculture and light industry, in the 70s-80s - from light industry and consumer goods, in the 90s - from the service sector. From 1970 to 2016, the volume of services produced in the country increased by $516.5 billion (297 times).
South Korea's GDP for the first time exceeded 1trillion dollars in the US in 2010. Over the next seven years, the indicator grew by more than 50%, reaching $1,530 billion in 2017
Below is a table showing South Korea's GDP by year.
| Year | Value, billion dollars |
| 2007 | 1049.2 |
| 2008 | 931.4 |
| 2009 | 834.1 |
| 2010 | 1014.5 |
| 2011 | 1164.0 |
| 2012 | 1151.0 |
| 2013 | 1198.0 |
| 2014 | 1449.0 |
| 2015 | 1393.0 |
| 2016 | 1404.0 |
| 2017 | 1530.0 |
These statistics perfectly show how successfully the country is developing in the economic sphere.
Economy growth rates
After the global economic crisis in 2008, South Korea's GDP growth rate in 2009 fell to 0.3%. In 2011, the country has already reached a good level - 3.7%, which is quite a high figure for a developed economy. This was facilitated by a good market situation for the country's main export commodities, including shipbuilding, automotive, engineering products and household appliances. From 2012 to 2016, South Korea's GDP growth slowed down due to problems in the external market. Increasing competition in the electronics and automotive markets, falling revenues in the markets for metallurgical products and in shipbuildinghad a negative impact on the country's economy.
In 2017, for the first time since 2014, the country's economy managed to overcome the 3 percent barrier, reaching a level of 3.1%. In a three-year perspective, the South Korean government intends to achieve a GDP indicator of 4%. The breakthrough occurred primarily due to the excellent market conditions for semiconductor elements and memory cards.
