Everyday Economy Struggles Despite Semiconductor Export Boom

Statistics show that despite a significant increase in semiconductor exports, leading major domestic semiconductor companies to achieve record-high performance and stock prices to hit their peaks, the economic situation experienced by ordinary citizens is actually worsening. The gap between indicators reflecting the overall economic trend and those predicting future economic conditions has widened to its largest extent in 16 years and 3 months.

According to the National Statistical Office (KOSIS), the difference between the seasonally adjusted leading composite index and the coincident composite index for March widened to 3.4 percentage points. This gap is the largest recorded since December 2009, 16 years and 3 months ago.

The seasonally adjusted leading composite index rose by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month to 103.5, marking the largest increase in 16 years and 9 months since June 2009. The seasonally adjusted coincident composite index, which reflects the current economic situation, rose by 0.5 percentage points from the previous month to 100.1. The coincident index has recovered to the 100 mark for the first time in 1 year and 5 months since October 2024.

The gap widened as the leading composite index, which reflects future outlooks such as the KOSPI index, rose, while the coincident index, reflecting current economic trends such as construction activity indices, employment figures, and service production indices, fluctuated between stagnation and decline. This reflects the reality where actual livelihood economy indicators are repeatedly stagnating or declining, in contrast to positive economic forecasts driven by the semiconductor export boom, KOSPI gains, and improved corporate performance.