Japan's Growth Rate Hits 1.1% Last Year, Surpassing Korea for the First Time in 27 Years

Japan's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate last year reached 1.1%, surpassing Korea (1.0%) for the first time in 27 years.

According to the preliminary GDP figures released by Japan's Cabinet Office on the 16th, Japan's real GDP growth rate last year was 1.1%, the highest in three years. Japan's economic growth rate had declined from 3.6% in 2021 to 1.3% in 2022, 0.7% in 2023, and -0.2% in 2024, before rebounding last year. Nominal GDP came to 662.8 trillion yen (about 6,253 trillion won), up 4.5% from the previous year. Japan's economic growth rate exceeded Korea's in the preliminary figures for 2023, but fell back below Korea's in the final figures.

Yonhap News

The Bank of Korea recently announced that Korea's real GDP growth rate last year, based on preliminary figures, was 1.0%. It is the first time in 27 years that Japan's growth rate has surpassed Korea's since the Korean economy posted negative growth of -4.9% during the foreign exchange crisis in 1998.

However, major global institutions project that Korea's growth rate will again outpace Japan's next year. According to the economic outlook report released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in December last year, Japan's economic growth rate is expected to decline from 1.1% last year to 0.5% next year, while Korea's is forecast to rise from 1.0% last year to 2.2% next year. Looking at Japan's quarterly real GDP growth rates last year (quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted), growth was 0.3% in the first quarter and 0.5% in the second quarter, then turned negative at -0.7% in the third quarter before rebounding to 0.1% in the fourth quarter.