South Korea’s economy grew at its fastest pace in more than five years in the first quarter, driven by strong semiconductor exports and investment, but consumer sentiment fell sharply in April as households turned more pessimistic about the economy and more concerned about inflation, Bank of Korea (BOK) data showed on Thursday.

Real gross domestic product rose 1.7% from the previous quarter in the January-March period, the fastest quarterly expansion since the third quarter of 2020, while the composite consumer sentiment index fell 7.8 points to 99.2 in April, slipping below its long-run average of 100. The central bank said