Signal Korean growth averaged 1.7 percent in 2023-24 amid fears of entrenched low growth

Summary

Korea's economy grew by an average of only 1.7 percent across 2023 and 2024. Many forecasting institutions expected growth of around 1 percent for the year in which the study was written. Worsening domestic and external conditions have heightened concern that low growth is becoming entrenched. Because growth has been slowing over a long period, the authors suspect that a falling potential growth rate, not just the business cycle, lies behind the weakness. They define potential growth as the medium- to long-term growth path once cyclical factors are removed, and set out to project it.