S. Korea's economy shrinks at less-than-expected rate of 1.3 pct in Q1

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's economy shrank at a slightly less-than-expected rate in the first quarter, central bank data showed Tuesday, but the reading still marked the sharpest on-quarter contraction in more than a decade amid the growing economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 1.3 percent from three months earlier in the January-March period, 0.1 percentage point lower than the expected 1.4 percent contraction in advance data, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The 1.3 percent contraction marks the biggest on-quarter drop since a 3.3 percent fall posted in the last three months of 2008, it noted.

From the same period last year, real GDP expanded 1.4 percent in the January-March period.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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