Samsung Group's Significant Impact on the Korean Economy... Approaching 20% of GDP Share

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Group has a significant impact on the domestic industry, accounting for nearly 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to CEO Score, a management performance evaluation site, the combined sales of 22 Samsung Group companies that submitted reports as of the first half of 2018, based on individual financial statements, amounted to 143.1938 trillion won.

During the same period, the domestic GDP was 793.892 trillion won, making Samsung's sales 18.04% of GDP, an increase of 0.63 percentage points compared to the same period last year (17.4%).

In the same period, Samsung Electronics' consolidated financial statement-based sales were 119.0464 trillion won. The sales of this single company accounted for 15% of the domestic GDP, up 0.4 percentage points from 14.6% in 2017.

Since the individual financial statements exclude overseas affiliates' performance, and despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic this year, Samsung Group's quarterly strong sales performance is expected by industry insiders to exceed 20% of GDP.

Samsung Electronics recorded an 'earnings surprise' in the third quarter of this year, far exceeding market expectations, with provisional results of 66 trillion won in sales and 12.3 trillion won in operating profit. Compared to the previous quarter, sales increased by 24.6% and operating profit by 50.92%. Compared to the same period last year, sales rose by 6.45% and operating profit by 58.1%.

This level significantly surpasses the market's initial operating profit estimate of 10 trillion won, marking Samsung Electronics' return to the 10 trillion won operating profit range for the first time in two years since the fourth quarter of 2018 (10.8 trillion won), during the 'semiconductor supercycle' period.