S.Korea's revised GDP grows 0.7 pct in Q2

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's revised figure for the real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, grew 0.7 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, central bank data showed Thursday.

It was unchanged from the preliminary reading unveiled in late July, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The real GDP continued to expand for the eighth consecutive quarter through the second quarter, after contracting in the first and second quarters of 2020 amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Private consumption gained 2.9 percent in the second quarter on a quarterly basis due to the lifting of all anti-virus measures, except an indoor mask mandate, in April.

Facility investment rose 0.5 percent in the quarter, and investment in the construction industry added 0.2 percent.

Fiscal spending increased 0.7 percent in the April-June quarter compared to three months earlier.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, retreated 3.1 percent in the second quarter on growing worries about the global economic slowdown, caused by interest rate hikes in major economies.

Real gross national income (GNI), which measures the total amount of income earned at home and abroad by people and businesses, was reduced by 1.3 percent in the second quarter.

The GDP deflator, or the ratio of nominal GDP to real GDP to gauge the price change for all of the goods and services produced in the country, went up 2.1 percent in the quarter.