Economy ofSouth Korea the capital and financial centre of South Korea Currency South Korean won(KRW) Fiscal year calendar yearTrade organizations APEC,WTO,OECD,G-20

StatisticsGDP Nominal: $1.449 trillion (projected numbers)[1](2014) PPP: $1.789 trillion (2014)GDP rank 11th(nominal) /13th(PPPGDP growth 2.1% (2012GDP per capita $35,485 (PPP, 2014 est.)GDP by sector Agriculture: 2.6%, industry: 39.2%, services: 58.2% (2010)Inflation(CPI) 1.1%,[2]Jan 2014Population below 15% (below income of 19,179 USD 2007 est.)[3 Labour force25.18 million (2012 est.)

Labour force by occupation Agriculture: 6.4%, industry: 24.2%, services: 69.4% (2011 est.)Unemployment 3%[Main industries Electronics telecommunications,automobileproduction,chemicals,shipbuilding,steel

ExternalExports$557.3 billion (7th; 2013 est.)

Export goodssemiconductors,wirelesstelecommunicationsequipment,motor vehicles,computers, steel,ships,petrochemicals

Main export partnersChina24.4%United States10.1%Japan7.1% (2011 est.)[6]

Imports$516.6 billion (8th; 2013 est.)

Import goodsmachinery,electronicsand electronic equipment,oil, steel,transportequipment, organic chemicals,plastics

Main import partnersChina16.5%Japan13.0%United States8.5%Saudi Arabia7.1%Australia5.0% (2011 est.)[7]

FDIstockabroad: $223.2 billion (31 December 2013)

Grossexternal debt$430.9 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

South Koreais a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and theG-20 major economies. South Korea has amarket economythat ranks11thin the world bynominal GDPand13thbypurchasing power parity(PPP). It is adeveloped country, with adeveloped marketand ahigh-income economy. South Korea is the only developed country included in the group ofNext Elevencountries. South Korea had one of the world's fastest growing economies from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, and remains one of the fastest growing developed countries in the 2000s.[12]South Koreans refer to this growth as theMiracle on the Han River[13]ofHeavy-Chemical Industry Drive, and the top fourchaebolgenerate 90% of South Korean conglomerate profits.[14][15]By creating favorable policy directive for economic development as preceded by Japanese economic recovery[16]as the logistic supplying bastion for American troops in the Korean peninsula during and after theKorean War,[17]South Korea's rigorouseducation systemand the establishment of a highly motivated and educated populace is largely responsible for spurring the country's high technology boom and rapid economic development.[18]Having almost no natural resources and always suffering from overpopulation in its small territory, which deterred continued population growth and the formation of a large internal consumer market, South Korea adapted an export-oriented economic strategy to fuel its economy, and in 2012, South Korea was theseventh largest exporterandseventh largest importerin the world.Bank of KoreaandKorea Development Instituteperiodically release majoreconomic indicatorsand economic trends of the economy of South Korea.[19][20]In the1997 Asian financial crisis, the South Korean economy suffered a liquidity crisis[21]and relied on the bailout by theIMFthat restructured and modernized the South Korean economy with successive DJnomics policy by PresidentKim Dae Jung,[22][23][24]including the resultant of the national development of theICTindustry.[25]Despite the South Korean economy's high growth potential and apparent structural stability, South Korea suffers perpetual damage to its credit rating inTHE STOCK MARKETdue to the belligerence ofNorth Koreain times of deep military crises, which has an adverse effect on the financial markets of the South Korean economy.[26][27]However, renowned financial organizations, such as theInternational Monetary Fund, also compliment the resilience of the South Korean economy against various economic crises, citing low state debt, and high fiscal reserves that can quickly be mobilized to address any expected financial emergencies.[28]Other financial organizations like the World Bank describe Korea as one of the fastest-growing major economies of the next generation along with BRIC and Indonesia.[29]South Korea was one of the few developed countries that was able to avoid arecessionduring theglobal financial crisis,[30]and its economic growth rate will reach 6.1% in 2010,[31]a sharp recovery from economic growth rates of 2.3% in 2008 and 0.2% in 2009 when the global financial crisis hit. The South Korean economy again recovered with the record-surplus of US$70.7 billion mark of the current account in the end of 2013, up 47 percent growth from 2012, amid uncertainties of the global economic turmoil, with major economic output being the technology products exports.[32]South Korea was a historical recipient of official development assistance (ODA) from OECD. Throughout the 1980s until the mid-1990s, South Korea's economic prosperity as measured in GDP by PPP per capita was still only a fraction of industrialized nations.[33]In 1980, the South Korean GDP per capita was $2,300, about one-third of nearby developed Asian economies such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Since then, South Korea has advanced into a developed economy to eventually attain a GDP per capita of $30,000 in 2010, almost thirteen times the figure thirty years ago. The whole country's GDP increased from $88 billion to $1,460 billion in the same time frame.[34]In 2009, South Korea officially became the first major recipient of ODA to have ascended to the status of a major donor of ODA.[8]Between 2008 and 2009, South Korea donated economic aid of $1.7 billion to countries other thanNorth Korea. South Korea's separate annual economic aid to North Korea has historically been more than twice its ODA.[35]On June 23, 2012, South Korea is landmarked to become the 7th member of the 20-50 club (with the population surpassing 50 million and maintaining per capita income of US$20,000),chronologically, afterJapan,United States of America,France,Italy,GermanyandUnited Kingdom.[36]Afree trade agreement between the United States of America and the Republic of Koreawas concluded on April 1, 2007. TheEuropean UnionSouth Korea Free Trade Agreementwas signed on 15 October 2009. The South Korean economy is heavily dependent on the energy imports and the related refinery technologies[37][38][39]in association with theMinistry of Knowledge Economy[40]and in accordance with the South Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement.[41]TheCanadaSouth Korea Free Trade Agreementwas concluded in 2014.ChinaSouth Korea Free Trade Agreementwent official on November 10 2014. South Korea has the largest indoorAmusement parkin the world,Lotte World, adding to the notable export-oriented music industry[42][43]guided by theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourismof the Republic of Korea[44](for more, seeKorea K-Pop Hot 100).