ANKARA

South Korea's economy has grown 1.9% in the third quarter of this year, marking the first quarterly expansion since the coronavirus pandemic began in the country, according to official data.

"Real gross domestic product [chained volume measure of GDP] grew by 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter while the real gross domestic income increased 2.5 percent compared to the previous quarter," Bank of Korea said in a statement on Monday.

The country's GDP had declined 3.2 % in the previous quarter.

On the expenditure side, private consumption contracted 0.1%, as expenditures on semi-durable goods and clothing dropped, but the government consumption rose 0.1%, mainly due to increased health care benefits.

Construction investment contracted 7.8%, as civil engineering activities fell. Facilities investment grew 6.7%, led by the growth of investment in machinery and transportation equipment, according to the bank.

The country's exports expanded 15.6%, as exports of goods such as motor vehicles and semiconductors expanded.

While imports were up 4.9%, owing to increased imports of crude oil and chemical products.

Park Yang-su, the Bank of Korea's economic statistics department chief, said the country could meet this year's growth target, as the third quarter results were better than expected.

"However, the pace of recovery may be moderate for the trade-driven economy because new waves of coronavirus infections recently gripped the United States and European nations," Yonhap News Agency quoted Park as saying.

"Given the risk factors, annual growth rates are still in the range of previous projections," he added.

The country's Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the nation's economy is on the road to recovery, helped by robust growth in exports.

"The economy entered a recovery path for normalization of the economy," Hong said.

* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid