Korea 14th 'purchasing power'

Population at 46 mil., 25th globally

By Kang Seung-woo

Staff reporter

South Korea ranked 14th in the world in 2009 in real purchasing power-based gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

In its latest World Factbook, the CIA reported that the nation's GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP) accelerated to $1.36 trillion (1,568 trillion won) in 2009, which ranked 14th among 227 countries.

PPP is the currency conversion rate that allows for international comparisons of GDP by reflecting the differences in price levels between countries.

Korea's economic size is comparable to that of Mexico ($1.48 trillion), Spain ($1.37 trillion) and Canada ($1.29 trillion).

The European Union (EU) placed first in the table with $14.51 trillion and the United States was second at $14.26 trillion. China, Japan and India rounded out the top five with $8.79 trillion, $4.14 trillion and $3.56 trillion, respectively.

North Korea ranked 97th recording $40 billion.

According to the report, Japan's economy was triple that of South Korea, but both remained about the same based on per-capita GDP. Korea placed 49th with $28,000 last year, while Japan stood at $32,600, the 42nd highest among the cited nations.

Liechtenstein posted the highest amount with $122,100, while North Korea was 188th with $1,900 ― a 15th of South Korea's per-capita GDP.

In terms of public debt to GDP, Korea tallied 28 percent to sit 90th out of 128 countries, with $333.6 billion in external debts, the 23rd highest.

Meanwhile, the intelligence agency reported that population of South Korea numbered 48.5 million, the 25th-largest in the word, while China was the most populated country with 1.34 billion people, followed by India (1.16 billion), the United States (372.1 million) and Brazil (198.73 million). Japan was the 10th largest with 127.07 million people and North Korea came in 50th with 22.66 million.

The combined population of two Koreas reached 71 million to catapult them to 18th in the list.

Egypt and Turkey placed just ahead of the two Koreas joint total, at 78.86 million and 76.8 million.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr