South Korea’s GDP Growth Beats Forecasts Amid AI Boom

South Korea’s GDP grew 1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2026, or 3.4 percent year-on-year, far exceeding the Bank of Korea’s forecast. Exports, led by semiconductors, machinery and electrical equipment, rose 2.3 percent, while investment in facilities and intellectual property also increased; private consumption fell 0.2 percent. The global AI boom is driving demand for memory chips, a market dominated by South Korean companies SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il expects annual growth of 3.4 to 3.6 percent in 2026, which would be the strongest performance since 2011, excluding the pandemic period.