---
ticker: "KRRGDP"
title: "South Korea Real GDP Growth (QoQ, SA)"
unit: "% QoQ"
frequency: "Quarterly"
source: "Kuznets (1941); Stone (1947)"
release: "Updated Quarterly"
category: "National Accounts"
country: "KR"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://kred.dev/en/series/KRRGDP"
license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"
latest_value: 0.60
latest_date: "2026-04-01"
first_date: "1960-04-01"
observations_total: 265
observations_shown: 120
---

# South Korea Real GDP Growth (QoQ, SA)

## Overview

Shows how much price-adjusted output rose or fell from the prior quarter, the core reading of the business cycle.

## Key Figures

|  | Value | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 0.60 | 2026-04-01 |
| Change from previous | -1.20 | 2026-01-01 |
| Change over one year | 0.00 | 2025-04-01 |
| Highest on record | 8.40 | 1969-07-01 |
| Lowest on record | -6.70 | 1998-01-01 |
| Period covered | 1960-04-01 – 2026-04-01 |  |
| Observations | 265 |  |

## Recent observations

| Date | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996-07-01 | 1.80 | -0.10 |
| 1996-10-01 | 1.80 | 0.00 |
| 1997-01-01 | 0.50 | -1.30 |
| 1997-04-01 | 3.50 | +3.00 |
| 1997-07-01 | 1.00 | -2.50 |
| 1997-10-01 | -0.60 | -1.60 |
| 1998-01-01 | -6.70 | -6.10 |
| 1998-04-01 | -0.80 | +5.90 |
| 1998-07-01 | 2.00 | +2.80 |
| 1998-10-01 | 2.50 | +0.50 |
| 1999-01-01 | 3.10 | +0.60 |
| 1999-04-01 | 4.30 | +1.20 |
| 1999-07-01 | 2.90 | -1.40 |
| 1999-10-01 | 2.70 | -0.20 |
| 2000-01-01 | 2.00 | -0.70 |
| 2000-04-01 | 1.50 | -0.50 |
| 2000-07-01 | 2.70 | +1.20 |
| 2000-10-01 | -0.30 | -3.00 |
| 2001-01-01 | 1.00 | +1.30 |
| 2001-04-01 | 1.50 | +0.50 |
| 2001-07-01 | 1.30 | -0.20 |
| 2001-10-01 | 1.50 | +0.20 |
| 2002-01-01 | 2.80 | +1.30 |
| 2002-04-01 | 1.90 | -0.90 |
| 2002-07-01 | 1.90 | 0.00 |
| 2002-10-01 | 0.90 | -1.00 |
| 2003-01-01 | -0.50 | -1.40 |
| 2003-04-01 | 0.10 | +0.60 |
| 2003-07-01 | 1.60 | +1.50 |
| 2003-10-01 | 2.50 | +0.90 |
| 2004-01-01 | 1.40 | -1.10 |
| 2004-04-01 | 0.80 | -0.60 |
| 2004-07-01 | 0.30 | -0.50 |
| 2004-10-01 | 0.80 | +0.50 |
| 2005-01-01 | 0.90 | +0.10 |
| 2005-04-01 | 1.90 | +1.00 |
| 2005-07-01 | 1.40 | -0.50 |
| 2005-10-01 | 1.10 | -0.30 |
| 2006-01-01 | 1.60 | +0.50 |
| 2006-04-01 | 0.70 | -0.90 |
| 2006-07-01 | 1.60 | +0.90 |
| 2006-10-01 | 0.80 | -0.80 |
| 2007-01-01 | 1.80 | +1.00 |
| 2007-04-01 | 1.70 | -0.10 |
| 2007-07-01 | 1.20 | -0.50 |
| 2007-10-01 | 2.00 | +0.80 |
| 2008-01-01 | 0.80 | -1.20 |
| 2008-04-01 | 0.40 | -0.40 |
| 2008-07-01 | 0.70 | +0.30 |
| 2008-10-01 | -3.40 | -4.10 |
| 2009-01-01 | 0.30 | +3.70 |
| 2009-04-01 | 1.40 | +1.10 |
| 2009-07-01 | 3.10 | +1.70 |
| 2009-10-01 | 0.70 | -2.40 |
| 2010-01-01 | 2.30 | +1.60 |
| 2010-04-01 | 1.60 | -0.70 |
| 2010-07-01 | 1.00 | -0.60 |
| 2010-10-01 | 1.40 | +0.40 |
| 2011-01-01 | 1.00 | -0.40 |
| 2011-04-01 | 0.40 | -0.60 |
| 2011-07-01 | 0.50 | +0.10 |
| 2011-10-01 | 0.70 | +0.20 |
| 2012-01-01 | 1.00 | +0.30 |
| 2012-04-01 | 0.40 | -0.60 |
| 2012-07-01 | 0.40 | 0.00 |
| 2012-10-01 | 0.70 | +0.30 |
| 2013-01-01 | 0.80 | +0.10 |
| 2013-04-01 | 1.10 | +0.30 |
| 2013-07-01 | 1.00 | -0.10 |
| 2013-10-01 | 0.90 | -0.10 |
| 2014-01-01 | 0.80 | -0.10 |
| 2014-04-01 | 0.90 | +0.10 |
| 2014-07-01 | 0.30 | -0.60 |
| 2014-10-01 | 0.50 | +0.20 |
| 2015-01-01 | 0.90 | +0.40 |
| 2015-04-01 | 0.40 | -0.50 |
| 2015-07-01 | 1.50 | +1.10 |
| 2015-10-01 | 0.80 | -0.70 |
| 2016-01-01 | 0.40 | -0.40 |
| 2016-04-01 | 1.30 | +0.90 |
| 2016-07-01 | 0.40 | -0.90 |
| 2016-10-01 | 0.80 | +0.40 |
| 2017-01-01 | 1.10 | +0.30 |
| 2017-04-01 | 0.70 | -0.40 |
| 2017-07-01 | 1.40 | +0.70 |
| 2017-10-01 | -0.20 | -1.60 |
| 2018-01-01 | 1.40 | +1.60 |
| 2018-04-01 | 0.80 | -0.60 |
| 2018-07-01 | 0.50 | -0.30 |
| 2018-10-01 | 0.50 | 0.00 |
| 2019-01-01 | 0.00 | -0.50 |
| 2019-04-01 | 1.40 | +1.40 |
| 2019-07-01 | 0.30 | -1.10 |
| 2019-10-01 | 1.00 | +0.70 |
| 2020-01-01 | -1.40 | -2.40 |
| 2020-04-01 | -2.60 | -1.20 |
| 2020-07-01 | 2.30 | +4.90 |
| 2020-10-01 | 1.50 | -0.80 |
| 2021-01-01 | 1.60 | +0.10 |
| 2021-04-01 | 1.40 | -0.20 |
| 2021-07-01 | 0.00 | -1.40 |
| 2021-10-01 | 1.80 | +1.80 |
| 2022-01-01 | 0.50 | -1.30 |
| 2022-04-01 | 1.00 | +0.50 |
| 2022-07-01 | 0.30 | -0.70 |
| 2022-10-01 | -0.40 | -0.70 |
| 2023-01-01 | 0.20 | +0.60 |
| 2023-04-01 | 0.70 | +0.50 |
| 2023-07-01 | 1.00 | +0.30 |
| 2023-10-01 | 0.70 | -0.30 |
| 2024-01-01 | 1.00 | +0.30 |
| 2024-04-01 | -0.20 | -1.20 |
| 2024-07-01 | 0.10 | +0.30 |
| 2024-10-01 | 0.20 | +0.10 |
| 2025-01-01 | -0.20 | -0.40 |
| 2025-04-01 | 0.60 | +0.80 |
| 2025-07-01 | 1.40 | +0.80 |
| 2025-10-01 | -0.10 | -1.50 |
| 2026-01-01 | 1.80 | +1.90 |
| 2026-04-01 | 0.60 | -1.20 |

## Definition

KRRGDP is the quarter-on-quarter growth rate of real gross domestic product, a seasonally-adjusted series recorded as published without further transformation. Real GDP here is the chain-linked volume aggregate of final output produced within the economy over a quarter, and KRRGDP records the quarter-on-quarter change of that volume series.

This aggregate concept is rooted in the national-income definition whose production, income, and expenditure boundary fixes the range of measured output (Kuznets 1941). Double-entry social accounting rendered the production and expenditure measures of GDP mutually consistent (Meade and Stone 1941; Stone 1947).

The 'real' qualifier denotes a volume measure obtained by removing price change. This volume measure rests on index-number theory and was systematized from it (Fisher 1922; Frisch 1936), and the bounds of base weighting and comparison weighting frame the volume index (Laspeyres 1871; Paasche 1874). Superlative indices refine the volume index within these bounds (Diewert 1976; Törnqvist 1936), and the continuous-time limit together with annual chain-linking defines the shape of the volume series (Divisia 1925; Hill 1988).

A positive growth rate means the physical quantity of final output rose relative to the previous quarter, and a negative rate that it fell, consistent with the physical-output lineage behind quantity measurement (Fabricant 1940).

## Methodology

KRED applies no transformation to KRRGDP and passes the published figure through unchanged. It performs none of rescaling, deflating, smoothing, or annualizing. Because the underlying real-GDP volume series is already seasonally adjusted at source, the seasonality treatment of the recorded growth rate is inherited from that source adjustment rather than from any KRED step.

The measurement basis by which this figure comes to exist is the national-accounts production and expenditure framework, in which gross value added is summed across producers and reconciled with final expenditure (Kuznets 1941; Meade and Stone 1941; Stone 1947).

Conversion to a real volume measure is the source's work of deflating current-price aggregates through index-number procedures. The base-weighted form and the current-weighted form bound the true volume change (Laspeyres 1871; Paasche 1874), and the ideal index takes their geometric mean (Fisher 1922). Superlative indices approximate a flexible aggregator (Diewert 1976; Törnqvist 1936), and the framework organizing these choices together with the continuous-time benchmark supports them (Frisch 1936; Divisia 1925). Annual chain-linking of the volume relatives and the physical-quantity deflation lineage complete the construction of the series (Hill 1988; Fabricant 1940).

The quarter-on-quarter growth is the simple period-over-period ratio of this quarterly seasonally-adjusted volume index, which KRED reports as the estimate it is. Because revision and sampling error are inherent in the level, the precision of early estimates is bounded (Stone, Champernowne, and Meade 1942).

## Applications in Economics

KRRGDP is the highest-frequency reading of aggregate real activity in the national accounts. Its cyclical interpretation rests on the business-cycle measurement tradition that defines expansions and contractions through the comovement of many activity series (Burns and Mitchell 1946; Persons 1923).

The level it differences is the output aggregate, whose boundary determines which production enters the cycle (Kuznets 1941). The production-expenditure reconciliation lets the same growth rate be read from the supply side or the demand side (Meade and Stone 1941; Stone 1947).

Because the figure is a real volume change, its economic content depends on the source's deflation and index-construction choices. The deflation choices separate quantity from price (Fisher 1922; Diewert 1976; Hill 1988), and the index construction fixes the shape of that separation (Frisch 1936; Laspeyres 1871; Divisia 1925). The growth rate thereby isolates quantity movement from price movement.

The physical-output reading of the same quarterly change is grounded in the physical lineage of quantity measurement (Fabricant 1940). Early estimates of the growth rate are revised as more source data arrive, so the precision analysis cautions about that limit (Stone, Champernowne, and Meade 1942).

## Applications in Financial Markets

Investors read KRRGDP as the broadest coincident gauge of the real cycle, which drives earnings, default rates, and policy expectations. This reading is organized by the reference-cycle dating and the composite business-conditions tradition (Burns and Mitchell 1946; Persons 1923).

Because the series is a quarter-on-quarter volume change, traders treat it as the difference of the output aggregate measured through the expenditure and production accounts (Kuznets 1941; Meade and Stone 1941; Stone 1947). They gauge its real, price-adjusted content against the source's deflation practice (Fisher 1922; Diewert 1976; Törnqvist 1936; Hill 1988).

The index structure governs how much of a printed surprise is genuine quantity information (Frisch 1936; Laspeyres 1871; Paasche 1874). The physical-output reading that maps the aggregate to sectoral activity comes from the physical lineage of quantity measurement (Fabricant 1940).

The measurement-error bounds bear directly on positioning (Stone, Champernowne, and Meade 1942), since the largest market reactions often accompany revisions to an already-released growth rate.

## Statistical Tests

KRRGDP is the quarter-on-quarter growth rate of a seasonally-adjusted-at-source real output aggregate, and because the published object is already a growth rate the battery is applied to that rate with no further differencing. The sample is 264 quarterly observations spanning 1960-04 to 2026-01, and the unit-root triplet is fitted with a constant and trend.

The augmented Dickey-Fuller regression of Dickey and Fuller (1979), in the lag-augmented form of Said and Dickey (1984), rejects the unit root at p = 0.000, the nonparametric test of Phillips and Perron (1988) agrees at p = 0.000, and the stationarity-null test does not reject at p = 0.067 (Kwiatkowski et al. 1992), so all three procedures concur on a clean I(0) classification without unit-root ambiguity. The GLS-detrended escalation of Elliott, Rothenberg, and Stock (1996) is reserved for ambiguous outcomes under the house protocol and is not needed on this clean reading.

Because the three procedures agree on a clean I(0) reading, the growth rate is the stationary object, so the portmanteau and the break search are object-valid on the rate itself with no further differencing (Perron 1989; Hamilton 2018). The portmanteau statistic of Ljung and Box (1978), refining the form of Box and Pierce (1970), rejects the white-noise null at the quarterly lags with p = 0.001 at four lags and p = 0.000 at eight lags, and the multiple-break procedure of Bai and Perron (1998), computed by the dynamic-programming algorithm of Bai and Perron (2003), locates a single break in the mean of the growth rate at 1997-07.

The seasonal battery is run on the growth rate with the interpretation that any absence of seasonality reflects the source adjustment rather than an inherent property, since the quarter-on-quarter difference does not zero the seasonal frequencies. The quarterly seasonal-unit-root test of Hylleberg et al. (1990) rejects unit roots at the seasonal frequencies, so no stochastic seasonality remains, and the seasonal dummies are not jointly significant at p = 0.421, so no deterministic seasonality survives either, which reflects the seasonal adjustment already applied at source and not an inherent absence of a seasonal pattern, consistent with the stationary-seasonality reading of Canova and Hansen (1995) and the seasonal-adjustment literature (Ghysels and Osborn 2001).

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What do the real GDP growth and net investment position series carry?

Real gross domestic product growth and the net international investment position, each carried as published without transformation.

### Is Korean real GDP growth seasonally adjusted?

It is adjusted at source. KRED adds no further adjustment, but the absence of processing here does not make it an unadjusted series.

### What does the net international investment position show?

Foreign assets held by residents less domestic assets held by non-residents. A positive balance makes the economy a net external creditor, and the series is a basic gauge of the buffer available against external shocks.