OECD cuts South Korea’s 2024 growth outlook to 1.7%: "Middle East conflict weighing on production"

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has lowered its forecast for South Korea’s economic growth this year to 1.7%. While most countries are seeing growth and inflation affected by the war in the Middle East, the revision for South Korea reflects its relatively high dependence on Middle Eastern energy among Group of Twenty (G20) economies.
In its interim economic outlook released on the 26th, the OECD projected South Korea’s growth rate for this year at 1.7%, a downgrade of 0.4 percentage points from its December forecast. The OECD explained, "For some Asian economies, including South Korea, where the share of energy imports from the Middle East is high, a prolonged war could lead to energy shortages that would weigh on production activities." However, the growth forecast for next year was kept unchanged at 2.1%. The organisation expects both South Korea’s economy and the global economy to recover next year as the impact of the Middle East conflict fades.
Meanwhile, the OECD left its forecast for global economic growth this year unchanged at 2.9%. For next year, it lowered the outlook by 0.1 percentage points to 3.0%. The OECD assessed, "Based on data available through February this year, there was room to revise the global growth forecast up by 0.3 percentage points from December, but the escalation of the Middle East conflict has completely offset that improvement."
syj@fnnews.com Seo Young-jun Reporter