Korea’s economic status among the OECD countries
The continued economic slowdown in South
Korea has affected country's worldwide economic status.
South
Korea's inflation rate was the fifth highest among the member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2003.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) said that
Korea's consumer prices soared by 3.6% in 2003. The country ranks fifth after
Turkey with 24.3%,
Slovakia with 8.6% and
Hungary with 4.6% and
Mexico with 4.5%.
Korea placed fifth in GDP growth (Gross Domestic Product) as its economy grew by 3.1% in 2003, down from the second position in 2002 when it recorded 7% growth.
Korea accounted for 5.2% of total global vehicle
production. The US, which is in the first position, accounted for 19.9% of total output, while
Japan recorded 16.9% and
Germany 9.1%. In addition,
China held the fourth spot with 7.2% of the global output.
South
Korea, which produced 46.3 million tons of crude steel in 2003 and accounted for 4.8% of total output, ranked fifth in crude steel
production.
China topped the crude steel
production chart with a 22.8% of share, followed by
Japan with 11.5%, the US with 9.4% and
Russia with 6.5%.