South Korea’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) fell 8.2 percent last year from a year ago, marking the third-largest drop among major economies, data showed Wednesday.

According to data obtained by Representative Jin Sun-mee of the Democratic Party from the Bank of Korea, the country’s per capita GDP stood at $32,142 in 2022, ranking 22nd among 47 major economies.

Korea saw the third-largest decline compared to 2021 at 8.2 percent, following Japan at 15.1 percent and Sweden at 8.5 percent.

The decline is largely attributed to the continued strong U.S. dollar, which caused the value of the won against the greenback to drop by 12.9 percent to an average of 1,291.75 won last year from 1,144.32 won in the previous year.

Korea’s overall economy also weakened.

Last year, Korea’s nominal GDP increased by 3.9 percent in won terms, reaching 2,161.8 trillion won. When converted to U.S. dollars, however, the amount decreased by 7.9 percent to $1.68 trillion.

The decline in nominal GDP was the second highest after Japan (-15.5 percent).

BOK data showed that Korea’s GDP was estimated to be the 13th-largest in the world last year, falling there notches from 2021.

In a press conference last month, BOK Governor Rhee Chang-yong noted that the value of the won against the U.S. dollar has significantly depreciated due to factors such as the rise in oil prices.

Countries like Brazil, Russia, and Australia, however, which rose in rankings, are energy-producing and exporting countries so they were not affected by the exchange rates, he added.

Apart from the decline in the value of the won, concerns about economic slowdown continue.

The International Monetary Fund revised its economic outlook last month, raising the world’s economic growth rate for this year to 3 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from its previous projection.

The IMF, however, lowered its growth rate by 0.1 percentage point for Korea to 1.4 percent.

By Ryu Young-wook and Lee Eun-joo

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