▲ In this file photo, containers are stacked at a port in Pyeongtaek, around 60 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 12, 2026. (Yonhap)

GRDP-2025 tally

GRDP inches up 1 pct in 2025 despite slowdown in manufacturing, construction

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in South Korea inched up 1 percent in 2025 from a year earlier, as manufacturing growth slowed and construction activity plunged, government data showed Monday.

The regional economy had expanded 4.5 percent in 2021, 2.7 percent in 2022 and 1.6 percent in 2023, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It rebounded slightly to 2 percent in 2024 before falling again in 2025.

By industry, mining and manufacturing grew 2 percent in 2025, compared with 4.2 percent growth recorded the previous year.

While sectors such as semiconductors, automobiles and shipbuilding saw strong export demand, the production increase for some items, particularly ships, fell sharply.

Construction shrank 9.3 percent, the ministry said, adding that the drop was most pronounced in the southwestern Honam region with a 14 percent drop.

By region, the wider Seoul area's GRDP grew by 1.9 percent, driven by steady growth in the services, mining and manufacturing sectors.

In contrast, the GRDP of the Honam region contracted 0.7 percent due largely to the sharp decline in construction, while that of the southeastern city of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province remained unchanged.

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