The Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised its forecast for South Korea’s economic growth this year to 3.2% from 2.6% in July, marking a second consecutive upgrade after projecting 1.9% in April. The bank also raised its 2027 forecast to 2.3% from 2%, citing stronger export growth led by sustained global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. South Korea’s cumulative 1.3 percentage-point upgrade since April far exceeds the improvement in ADB’s outlook for developing Asia and the Pacific, where the 2026 forecast rose just 0.1 point from July to 5.0%.

ADB said the Korean economy expanded 3.8% in the first half