South Korea GDP Growth Rate
South Korea's real GDP growth rate was 1.1% in 2025, down 1.1 percentage points from 2024. The record high was 15.0% in 1973.
1954–2025 (%)
Data table
| Year | GDP Growth Rate, % |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.1 |
| 2024 | 2.2 |
| 2023 | 1.5 |
| 2022 | 2.9 |
| 2021 | 4.7 |
| 2020 | -0.7 |
| 2019 | 2.3 |
| 2018 | 3.2 |
| 2017 | 3.4 |
| 2016 | 3.2 |
| 2015 | 2.9 |
| 2014 | 3.2 |
| 2013 | 3.3 |
| 2012 | 2.5 |
| 2011 | 3.7 |
| 2010 | 7.0 |
| 2009 | 0.8 |
| 2008 | 3.0 |
| 2007 | 5.8 |
| 2006 | 5.2 |
| 2005 | 4.4 |
| 2004 | 5.2 |
| 2003 | 3.1 |
| 2002 | 7.7 |
| 2001 | 4.7 |
| 2000 | 9.2 |
| 1999 | 11.6 |
| 1998 | -4.9 |
| 1997 | 6.3 |
| 1996 | 8.0 |
| 1995 | 9.7 |
| 1994 | 9.4 |
| 1993 | 7.0 |
| 1992 | 6.4 |
| 1991 | 10.9 |
| 1990 | 10.0 |
| 1989 | 7.2 |
| 1988 | 12.1 |
| 1987 | 12.9 |
| 1986 | 11.5 |
| 1985 | 7.9 |
| 1984 | 10.6 |
| 1983 | 13.5 |
| 1982 | 8.5 |
| 1981 | 7.4 |
| 1980 | -1.5 |
| 1979 | 8.7 |
| 1978 | 11.1 |
| 1977 | 12.4 |
| 1976 | 13.3 |
| 1975 | 7.9 |
| 1974 | 9.6 |
| 1973 | 15.0 |
| 1972 | 7.3 |
| 1971 | 10.7 |
| 1970 | 10.2 |
| 1969 | 14.6 |
| 1968 | 13.2 |
| 1967 | 9.2 |
| 1966 | 12.0 |
| 1965 | 7.3 |
| 1964 | 9.4 |
| 1963 | 9.0 |
| 1962 | 3.9 |
| 1961 | 6.9 |
| 1960 | 2.4 |
| 1959 | 5.7 |
| 1958 | 6.7 |
| 1957 | 9.4 |
| 1956 | 0.7 |
| 1955 | 5.6 |
| 1954 | 7.5 |
Context
This is the yearly change in real GDP, the size of the economy with inflation taken out. It is the standard measure of how fast an economy is growing.
For three decades South Korea grew very fast. Annual growth averaged 8.8% in the 1960s, 10.6% in the 1970s and 9.0% in the 1980s, and was still 7.4% in the 1990s. The economy grew by 10% or more in 17 separate years, peaking at 15.0% in 1973. The last such year was 1999.
In 72 years of records the economy has shrunk only three times: by 1.5% in 1980, during the second oil shock and the political upheaval that followed the assassination of President Park Chung-hee (박정희); by 4.9% in 1998, in the Asian financial crisis; and by 0.7% in 2020, in the COVID-19 pandemic. Each time, growth returned the following year.
Growth has slowed as the economy has matured: an average of 4.9% in the 2000s, 3.5% in the 2010s and 2.0% from 2020 to 2025. Decade figures are simple averages of the annual rates.