2019.06.0319:45:00UTC+00South Korea GDP Contracts 0.4% In Q1

South Korea's gross domestic product was down 0.4 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2019, the Bank of Korea said in Tuesday's preliminary reading.

That's down from the 0.3 percent decline suggested in last month's advance estimate and it follows the 0.9 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2018.

On the production side, manufacturing contracted 3.3 percent on quarter owing to decreases in production of computer and electronic and optical equipment.

Construction fell 1.0 percent, with decreased residential building construction, while services added 0.8 percent, led by information and communication and finance and insurance.

On the expenditure side, private consumption rose 0.1 percent, led by an increase in consumption of durable goods such as home appliances, despite a decrease in services.

Government consumption added 0.4 percent, with increased health care benefits. Construction investment sank 0.8 percent, as investment in residential building construction and civil engineering decreased.

Facilities investment tumbled 9.1 percent, driven by decreases in machinery and transportation equipment.

Exports contracted by 3.2 percent, led by decreases in exports of electrical and electronic equipment such as LCDs and semiconductors. Imports also decreased by 3.4 percent, owing to contraction in imports of machinery & equipment along with those of coal and petroleum products.

On a yearly basis, GDP climbed 1.7 percent - slowing from the 2.9 percent jump in the three months prior.

Real gross national income (real GNI) decreased by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the previous quarter.

Nominal GNI shed 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2019 relative to the quarter before, with a 0.8 percent decrease in nominal gross domestic product (nominal GDP) and a decrease of net factor income from the rest of the world.

Real GNI eased 0.3 percent compared to the previous quarter due to decreases in real gross domestic product (real GDP) and real net factor income from the rest of the world, despite an improvement of the terms of trade.

The GDP deflator fell 0.5 percent year on year.