SEOUL, Oct 16 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The South Korean government saw a robust economic recovery driven by surging exports, a finance ministry report said on Friday, reported Xinhua.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy said in its monthly report, called Green Book, that the Asian economy recently showed a continuous trend of robust economic recovery, with exports growing significantly, investment increasing at a solid pace, and consumption improving gradually.
The ministry, however, cautioned that while uncertainties arising from the West Asia conflicts had somewhat increased, pressure on people's livelihoods persisted, including inflationary pressures from high oil prices and difficulties faced by vulnerable groups in finding jobs.
The ministry highlighted remaining challenges, including West Asia conflicts and US tariff measures.
The outbound shipments soared 83.5 per cent in September from a year earlier, while the daily average exports more than doubled on surging demand for memory chips and solid-state drives (SSDs) used for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Revised gross domestic product (GDP) data showed that facility investment climbed 6.3 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter.
Private consumption increased 2.4 per cent in the second quarter, but retail sales in August declined 1.8 percent on a monthly basis.
The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) gained 2.1 points over the month to 106.6 in September, providing a positive signal for domestic demand in the coming months.
Consumer prices rose 2.9 per cent in September from a year earlier, slightly lower than 3.1 per cent in August.
The number of jobs was up 113,000 year-on-year in September, staying in the 100,000 range for a third consecutive month.
-- BERNAMA-XINHUA