Half of Koreans Say "Economy Will Worsen This Year... KOSPI 5,000 Possible"

25.1% Say "Loan Regulations on Real Estate Should Be Eased"

Nearly half of the public expects the economy to worsen in the new year compared to the current situation.

According to a survey on economic outlook for 2026 conducted by the polling agency Realmeter, 46.4% of respondents answered that the Korean economy this year will be "more difficult than now," Realmeter announced on the 1st.

The negative outlook was dominant, with this figure 12.6 percentage points higher than the 33.8% who said it would "improve compared to now."

Realmeter analyzed, "Despite the boom in the semiconductor industry, sluggish performance in other key sectors such as manufacturing and uncertainties stemming from U.S. tariff hikes appear to have caused psychological contraction."

On the 2nd, a citizen is shopping while checking prices at a large supermarket in Seoul.

By region, in Gwangju and Jeolla, the positive outlook ("will improve" at 53.8%) far outpaced the negative outlook ("will worsen" at 20.8%). In contrast, pessimism was prevalent in other regions such as Daegu and Gyeongbuk ("will worsen" at 60.8%) and Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam ("will worsen" at 52.8%).

By political orientation, 71.1% of conservatives answered "will worsen," while 59.0% of progressives responded "will improve," highlighting a clear difference in perspective. Among moderates, the negative outlook (42.7%) was higher than the positive outlook (34.4%).

By age group, those in their 50s showed more optimism ("will improve" at 45.8%, "will worsen" at 38.8%), but negative expectations were relatively higher among those aged 18-29 ("will worsen" at 56.8%) and those aged 70 and older ("will worsen" at 55.3%) compared to other age groups.

As for the most urgent economic issue the government should address this year, "price stabilization" ranked first at 29.4%.

This was followed by "deregulation and revitalization of corporate investment" (15.9%), "strengthening export competitiveness and fostering new industries" (12.8%), "increasing jobs and employment" (12.0%), "alleviating household debt and interest rate burdens" (10.9%), "support for self-employed and small business owners" (8.3%), and "support for youth and future generations" (7.7%).

While the outlook for the real economy remains somewhat gloomy, there appears to be some optimism regarding the stock market.

Regarding the possibility of the KOSPI index surpassing 5,000 points this year, 48.7% of respondents said it was "possible," slightly higher than the 42.5% who said it was "not possible."

For government real estate policy, "easing loan regulations for actual homebuyers" was the most frequently cited direction at 25.1%.

This was followed by "strengthening regulations on multi-homeowners and speculative demand" (21.7%), "expanding public housing supply for the homeless and youth" (13.6%), "strengthening measures to stabilize the rental market" (13.4%), "improving residential environments in non-metropolitan areas" (12.6%), and "expanding housing supply in Seoul and the metropolitan area" (8.1%).

This survey was commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted nationwide on December 29-30 among 1,025 men and women aged 18 or older. The survey used an automated response system with random digit dialing (RDD) based on a 100% wireless, randomly generated sampling frame. The response rate was 5.6%, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.