S Korea's private consumption growth down in Q3
(11-16 18:18)
South Korea's private consumption growth hit the lowest in more than three years in the third quarter as consumers were reluctant to spend money due to the household debt burden, data by the statistical agency showed Friday.
Monthly average consumption by households amounted to 2.47 million won (HK$17,538) during the July-September period, up 1 percent from the same period of last year, according to Statistics Korea. Xinhua news agency reports.
The growth was down from a 3.6 percent increase in the previous quarter, and marked the lowest since a 3.6 percent on-year contraction for the first quarter of 2009.
The inflation-adjusted consumer expenditure declined 0.7 percent on-year in the third quarter, down from a 1.1 percent growth in the previous quarter.
The slowdown in private expenditure was attributable to the prolonged economic slump caused by external uncertainties such as the eurozone fiscal crisis and the U.S fiscal cliff issue. Bank of Korea slashed its 202 growth outlook for the country to 2.4 percent from an earlier estimate of 3 percent last month.
The central bank lowered its outlook for the country's 2012 private consumption growth to 1.7 percent from a prior estimate of 2.2 percent, citing massive household debts and housing market slump.