Economy ‘moderately’ increases by 3.7% YoY in Q1: MTI

On a quarterly and seasonally adjusted basis, it grew by 0.7%.

Despite geopolitical tensions, the economy went up by 3.7% year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 but moderated from the 6.1% expansion in the past quarter, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), said.

On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) seasonally-adjusted basis, gross domestic product expanded by 0.7% but is slower than the 2.3% increase in the fourth quarter last year.

The manufacturing industry expanded by 7.1%, pushing the 15.5% growth registered in the previous quarter. This was on the back of output expansions in electronics, transport engineering, general manufacturing, and precision engineering clusters.

It contracted slightly 0.2% QoQ on a seasonally-adjusted basis, contradictory from 6.3% growth in the previous quarter.  

For the construction industry, it grew by 2.1% YoY, easing from the 2.9% growth in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, it went up by 3.2% QoQ on a seasonally adjusted basis, higher than the 2.1% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2021.

MTI also noted the weak performance of the accommodation sector, which shrunk by 13.5% YoY, which is worse than the 5.1% contraction in the previous quarter. 

The sector’s weak performance was on the back of government’s withdrawal for quarantine and stay home notice dedicated facilities, which more than offset a rise in tourism demand as visitor arrivals rose with the gradual easing of travel restrictions during the quarter.

However, QoQ, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the industry went down by 23.9%, which weakened from 0.2% contraction in the preceding quarter.