South Korea's economy released a minor growth through 'retaliation spending’

November 01, 2022: -Even as the global economy is looking for a recession, South Korea’s economy experienced a slight growth backed by what one analyst attributed to “revenge spending” as the country is reopening.

According to Bank of Korea data, gross domestic product rose 0.3% for the July-September period, the slowest quarterly growth seen in a year. It increased by 0.7% in the previous quarter.

“I think that the momentum domestically is resilient,” said Kathleen Oh, Bank of America’s Korea economist.

“Consumption holds up a strong as it reopens and pent-up demand in services; we’re experiencing particularly strong ‘revenge spending’ in leisure, entertainment, and travel,” she stated. That domestic demand will support continued growth until this year.

South Korea’s third-quarter GDP report showed growth was primarily backed by consumer spending and investment in facilities, growing 1.9% and 5%, respectively.

Reopening-improved pent-up consumer spending slowed while investment showed a better resilient recovery.

According to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, the total expenses for tourism and leisure activities from January to October were nearly 67 trillion won. While it was over 5% lower than in a similar period in 2019, before the pandemic, it still experienced over 21% increase from the previous year.

Spending dropped over 28% in 2020 in the same period in 2019 and maintained similar levels in 2021.

“Private consumption maintained an overall robust speed of increase,” Goldman Sachs analysts added in a note that it was stronger than expected and driven by spending on automobiles and services.

Economists at ING said, “Reopening increased pent-up consumer spending slowed while investment showed a more resilient recovery.”