South Korea’s central bank on Thursday revised up the country’s growth outlook for 2026 to 3.3 percent, reflecting stronger-than-expected semiconductor exports.
The 2026 real GDP growth forecast was raised by 0.7 percentage points from 2.6 percent in May, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The upward revision, which outpaced the finance ministry’s projection of 3 percent, came after the BOK raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3 percent.
The real GDP surged 1.8 percent in the January-March quarter from the previous quarter, marking the fastest growth since the third quarter of 2020.
Despite a high base effect from the first quarter, the real GDP gained 0.6 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier.
The BOK raised its 2027 economic growth outlook by 0.8 percentage points to 2.9 percent.
Forecasts for consumer price inflation were unchanged at 2.7 percent for 2026 and 2.3 percent for 2027.
