South Korea's Economic Contraction Expected to be Reported at 1.8%

South Korea is expected to report a 1.81 percent contraction in its economy for the first quarter due to the effects of the pandemic on its industrial output, job markets, and consumer spending.

The on-quarter contraction was the sharpest in South Korea's economy since the fourth quarter of 2008, when it exhibited a 3.3 percent contraction.

South Korea's economy is expected to grow by 0.15 percent in the first quarter, which is the lowest since the economy shrank by 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009.

It preceded a 1.3 economic growth in the fourth quarter of last year.

With the Bank of Korea making a first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report on Thursday, Park Sung-woo, a researcher at DB Financial Investment, predicts a large-scale contraction in the first-quarter GDP.

The contraction was caused by the pandemic ravaging its economic activities in February and March.

Lee Sang-jae, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, attributed the contraction due to the social-distancing guidelines that affected domestic consumption.

Social-distancing guidelines have been extended in South Korea until May 5, although some restrictions were softened after the country reported only eight new infections, which is the lowest daily figure in 61 days.

South Korea's exports fell 0.2 percent on-year in March and tumbled 18.6 percent for the first 10 days of April.

Last week, Statistics Korea said the nation reported its first on-year job loss since 2009 in March, losing about 195,000 jobs.

It was the sharpest monthly decline since May 2009, when some 240,000 jobs were lost.

South Korea's economy has been predicted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to will shrink by 1.2 percent this year.