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While the government has been arguing that the fundamentals of Korea's economy are strengthening, its status in the world economy has been deteriorating.
In terms of major indicators such as gross domestic product, economic growth and international payments, Korea's global ranking has been falling.
According to an analysis by the Chosun Ilbo of National Statistical Office information from the IMF and OECD, Korea's GDP for 2006 fell one notch to 13th in the world, overtaken by Russia. Korea's GDP is US$887.4 billion, up by 12 percent from the previous year.
Korea's economy was outpaced by India's in 2004, Brazil's in 2005 and Russia's in 2006. Under the current administration, Korea's economic ranking has fallen two spots.
The current account has also posted an increasing deficit in the service sector due to a surge in overseas travel and study abroad. The size of Korea's current account defict at $6.1 billion ranked 23rd, down seven notches from 16th in 2005.
Korea's foreign currency reserves at $239 billion fell from fourth to fifth largest in the world, also outpaced by Russia.
In 2005 the nation's economic growth rate of four percent ranked seventh among the OECD's 30 member nations, but in 2006 at five percent it fell to ninth place due to an economic revival in European countries such as Norway and Luxembourg.
When it comes to the number of Internet users per 10,000 of the population, Korea's ranking fell from third in the world in 2005 to fifth with 6,835, outpaced by Australia and the Netherlands.
Last year Korea's gross national income ranked 10th, the same place as the previous year. GNI per capita increased by 11.9 percent year on year, ranking 28th with $18,372. Exports climbed a notch to 11th from 12th, surpassing Hong Kong.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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