South Korea’s GDP growth beats forecasts amid AI boom

Asia’s fourth-largest economy grows 3.4 percent year-on-year amid strong semiconductor demand.

The Han River and the Seoul Tower are seen from the Lotte World Tower at dusk in Seoul, South Korea [File: Greg Baker/AFP]

South Korea’s economy grew much faster than expected in the July-September quarter amid booming demand for chips used in artificial intelligence (AI).

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 1 percent on a quarterly basis, or 3.4 percent year-on-year, advance estimates released by the Bank of Korea showed on Tuesday.

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The Bank of Korea forecast in August that GDP would grow 0.3 percent in the third quarter.

Exports, which account for about 45 percent of South Korea’s GDP, rose 2.3 percent quarter-on-quarter, driven by semiconductors, machinery and electrical equipment, according to the central bank.

Investment in facilities and intellectual property rose 4.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, while investment in construction edged up 0.7 percent.

Despite the robust growth in exports and investment, private consumption fell 0.2 percent.

The latest results put the South Korean economy well on track to achieve its biggest economic expansion in more than a decade.

South Korean Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said earlier this month that he expected growth to reach 3.4-3.6 percent in 2026, which would be the strongest performance since 2011, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Korea’s economy grew 1 percent in 2025, its slowest expansion since the pandemic.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy has capitalised on the AI boom amid a global shortage of memory chips.

South Korea is home to two of the three largest memory chip makers, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which together control roughly 80 percent of the global market for high-bandwidth memory and 60 percent of the market for dynamic random-access memory.

South Korea’s exports in September surged 83.5 percent year-on-year to $120.9bn, with chips accounting for nearly half of all shipments, according to the Korea Customs Service.

受半导体需求强劲推动，亚洲第四大经济体同比增长3.4%。

黄昏时分，从韩国首尔的乐天世界塔上可以看到汉江和首尔塔。[图片：Greg Baker/AFP]

由于人工智能 (AI) 芯片的需求旺盛，韩国经济在 7 月至 9 月季度的增长速度远超预期。

韩国央行周二公布的初步数据显示，韩国国内生产总值（GDP）环比增长1%，同比增长3.4%。

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韩国央行8月份预测，第三季度GDP将增长0.3%。

据韩国央行称，出口额约占韩国国内生产总值的 45%，环比增长 2.3%，主要得益于半导体、机械和电气设备的增长。

设施和知识产权投资分别增长了 4.1% 和 2.3%，而建筑投资仅小幅增长了 0.7%。

尽管出口和投资强劲增长，但私人消费下降了0.2%。

最新数据显示，韩国经济有望实现十多年来最大幅度的经济扩张。

韩国财政部长李亨日本月早些时候表示，他预计2026年韩国经济增长率将达到3.4%至3.6%，这将是自2011年以来最强劲的增长（不包括新冠疫情的影响）。

韩国经济在2025年增长了1%，这是自疫情爆发以来最慢的增速。

在全球内存芯片短缺的背景下，亚洲第四大经济体充分利用了人工智能的蓬勃发展。

韩国拥有全球三大存储芯片制造商中的两家——SK海力士和三星电子，这两家公司合计控制着全球高带宽内存市场约80%的份额和动态随机存取存储器市场约60%的份额。

据韩国海关总署统计，韩国9月份出口额同比增长83.5%，达到1209亿美元，其中芯片占出口总额的近一半。