Real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, shrank 1.4 percent in the January-March quarter compared with the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the worst in over 11 years since the real GDP tumbled 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 on the back of the global financial crisis that roiled the global economy.
From a year earlier, the real GDP rose 1.3 percent, but it was the lowest in 10 and a half years since the third quarter of 2009.
The COVID-19 outbreak hit hardest private consumption as consumers refrained from outside activities such as travel, shopping and eating out while avoiding social gatherings and religious services.
Consumer spending plunged 6.4 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, posting the worse since the first quarter of 1998 when the foreign exchange crisis rattled the South Korean economy.
Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, reduced 2.0 percent in the quarter.
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