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SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's economy grew at its fastest pace in over six years in the third quarter amid strength in manufacturing and capital spending, the central bank said Monday, as Asian countries lead the global recovery.
Gross domestic product grew 2.9 per cent in the three months ended Sept. 30 compared with the previous quarter when it expanded 2.6 per cent, the Bank of Korea announced. The figure is preliminary and subject to revision.
That marked the strongest growth since an expansion of 3.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2002, according to bank data.
South Korea has been recovering from its worst downturn since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis as a weaker currency and government stimulus programs overseas boost exports. Record low interest rates and government spending at home have also helped stimulate Asia's fourth-largest economy.
The unemployment rate fell in September to a nine-month low of 3.4 per cent, consumer and business sentiment have risen and the current account - South Korea's broadest measure of trade - is firmly back in surplus after a deficit last year for the first time since 1997. Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., both major exporters, reported record quarterly net profit in the third quarter as sales rose.
The country's latest GDP figure marks the third straight three-month period that the economy has grown. It eked out a 0.1 per cent expansion in the first quarter after having contracted 5.1 per cent in the final three months of 2008.
The central bank also said Monday that South Korea grew in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, expanding 0.6 per cent. That snapped three straight quarters of year-on-year contraction.
Manufacturing expanded 8.7 per cent in the third quarter, while capital spending grew 8.9 per cent.
The latest growth figures also add to evidence that Asian countries are leading a recovery in the world economy after it slumped severely in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown last year.
China's economy, the world's third largest, grew 8.9 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, accelerating from an expansion of 7.9 per cent in the second. Singapore's economy grew an annualized 14.9 per cent in the third quarter, expanding for a second straight three-month period.
Japan, the world's second-largest economy, grew at an annual pace of 2.3 per cent in the second quarter, following a yearlong contraction. Japan has yet to release figures for the third quarter.
Asia's performance contrasts with that of other major economies, some of which remain mired in recession. The German and French economies each grew a modest 0.3 per cent in the second quarter. They have yet to release results for the third.
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