S. Korea’s Yoon gov’t vows to achieve $40,000 GDP per capita by 2027

[Photo by MK DB]

The South Korean government will strive to bump up the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to $40,000 by 2027 through reforms of the country’s economic structure and deregulation to reinvigorate the country’s export and private investment.

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration and the ruling People Power Party have agreed on a new state vision to expand the country’s GDP per capital to $40,000 by 2027, the last year of the Yoon administration, Rep. Sung Il-jong of the People Power Party, who chairs the policy committee, said on Monday.

They will seek to reform the country’s inefficient economic structure with a focus on five areas of public pension, labor, education, finance, and services, according to the committee meeting held on Monday to discuss economic policy directions for 2023.

Sung said the government will also lead bold deregulation to revitalize private sector-led economic activities and exports.

But Asia’s fourth largest economy faces with growing challenges on the growth front.

The Bank of Korea recently revised down its economic forecast for the country for next year to 1.7 percent. Based on the figure and the annual average U.S. dollar-Korean won exchange rate of 1,303 estimated by financial officials at the country’s top 500 export companies, South Korea’s GDP per capita is expected to decline 7.8 percent year on year to record $32,264 this year. This means the country could achieve $40,000 in GDP per capita in 2031, four years later than what the current administration and ruling party pursues.