Korea's Economic Recovery to Lag Behind G20

The OECD forecasts global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is "on the horizon," but Korea's will lag significantly behind other members of the G20.

"Global economic prospects have improved markedly in recent months, helped by the gradual deployment of effective vaccines, announcements of additional fiscal support in some countries, and signs that economies are coping better with measures to suppress the virus," it said.

But it added that only the U.S. will be able to return to a normal footing by the end of this year.

Korea had the sixth smallest forecast downgrade, but China and Japan were far ahead. Experts voiced concerns that the Korean economy may have lost its trademark resilience that helped it bounce back from previous crises.

Korea's growth projection is 1.9 percentage points lower now than it was before the pandemic. In contrast, the U.S. economy is expected to grow 0.2 percentage point more than the previous forecast, due largely to the Biden administration's "super stimulus."

Japan's growth forecast is now 1.3 percentage points lower than before the pandemic, Turkey's 0.8 points lower, and China's and Russia's 1 and 1.7 points lower.