Visitors look at a model of SK hynix's High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) at its booth during a semiconductor exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026.(AP Photo)
South Korea's economy grew more than three times faster than expected in the third quarter, driven by booming semiconductor demand, central bank data showed on Oct. 27.
GDP expanded 1 percent quarter-on-quarter in July-September, according to preliminary figures from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The figure exceeded the bank's August forecast of 0.3 percent growth.
The reading was boosted by a 2.3 percent rise in exports, "led by semiconductors, machinery and electrical equipment," the BOK said.
Investment in facilities also jumped 4.1 percent, driven mainly by machinery used in chip-making.
From a year earlier, the economy expanded 3.4 percent, slightly below the 3.7 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
South Korea's economy recorded its fastest growth in more than five years during the first quarter, expanding 1.7 percent month-on-month thanks to soaring chip demand.
The data validates the "BOK's upbeat assessment ... that booming demand for chips is keeping exports and investment strong", said Kwon Hyo-sung of Bloomberg Economics.
Analysts, however, warned that growth remained dependent on the semiconductor sector.
"The risk is that growth stays heavily concentrated in the semiconductor sector, leaving South Korea exposed to a slowdown in global AI spending," said John Bromhead, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics.
