Signal Korea climbs to 14th in GDP and 6th in exports while growth outlooks improve

Summary

The plan recalls that Korea became an economic power through a manufacturing and export-led growth strategy. Its GDP ranking rose from 30th in 1974 to 14th in 2025, and its export ranking from 39th to 6th over the same period. More recently, AI-related and innovative firms centred on semiconductors have grown quickly, raising growth forecasts and lifting financial markets. The OECD revised its 2026 growth forecast for Korea from 1.7 percent to 2.6 percent. Korea also ranked eighth in national stock market capitalization as of April 2026, according to Bloomberg.