Chip Boom Drives Fastest South Korea Growth In Five Years

2-Nanometre Chips…photo by wccftech   Soaring semiconductor demand has driven South Korea’s economy to its fastest growth in over five years, quarterly data from the central bank showed Thursday, as the Asian powerhouse brushed off risks from the Middle East war. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569656851-0"); }); The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) jumped 1.7 per cent in the January-March period compared to the prior three months, according to preliminary figures from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the fastest such expansion since the third quarter of 2020, when exports surged as Covid-19 lockdowns eased. Growth was propelled by a 5.1 percent jump in exports, led mainly by “IT items such as semiconductors”, the BOK said. “South Korea’s economy expanded much more than we expected,” Dave Chia, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, told AFP. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569913499-0"); }); “Strong gains in semiconductor shipments underpinned robust exports,” he said. “Fiscal support and the earlier easing of inflationary pressures have gradually firmed domestic demand.”   India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hands with South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung before their meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on April 20, 2026. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)   Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587799169-0"); }); From a year earlier, the country’s economy grew 3.6 per cent, while posting a 1.6 percent expansion in the fourth quarter. Government expenditure, meanwhile, grew only 0.1 per cent. Kwon Hyo-sung of Bloomberg Economics said “the pace will be hard to sustain” in the second quarter. “We expect growth to cool as disruptions to energy supplies due to the Iran war weigh heavily on petrochemicals and spill over into broader manufacturing and services.” Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587060870-0"); });   South Korea’s former impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol (R) arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors in Seoul on July 9, 2025. Photo by KIM HONG-JI / POOL / AFP   South Korea has passed a supplementary budget and taken other measures to avert a fuel supply crisis triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. The attacks prompted Tehran to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, choking off a crucial transit route for import-dependent Asian economies.     AFP   Join Our Whatsapp Channel To join: Simply click on the link below & turn on notifications to get the latest updates Subscribe to Our Newsletter In This Article: Economy SKorea More Stories UK Inflation Jumps In March As Mideast War Propels Energy Prices No Hidden Spending, Diversion In Federation Revenue – FG Higher Oil Production Gives Nigeria Fiscal Space As Reforms Continue – Edun /* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * / var disqus_shortname = 'channelstelevision'; // Required - Replace example with your forum shortname / * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * */ (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = '//' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com/embed.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

SOURCE: https://www.channelstv.com/2026/04/23/chip-boom-drives-fastest-south-korea-growth-in-five-years/