South Korea's Q1 GDP Growth Tops Major Economies

South Korea's economic growth rate in the first quarter was the highest among 22 major countries. The nation's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.694%, marking the best performance among countries that have released preliminary figures.

South Korea's Q1 GDP growth of 1.694% is the highest in 14 years, since Q1 2010 (2.343%), and represents a rebound from its 38th place ranking among 41 countries in the fourth quarter of last year.

The strong growth in the first quarter was driven by a 5.1% increase in exports, primarily in information and communication technology (IT) items, contributing 1.1 percentage points to net exports. Major semiconductor firms Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix reported first-quarter earnings of 57.2 trillion won and 37.6 trillion won, respectively.