SEOUL, April 25 (Reuters) - South Korea's economic growth in the first quarter of 2024 quickened to the fastest pace in over two years, official advance estimates showed on Thursday, beating market expectations.
Gross domestic product (GDP) for the January-March quarter was 1.3% higher than the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Bank of Korea.
That comes after an expansion of 0.6% in the prior quarter and compares with a median forecast of 0.6% in a Reuters survey of economists.
On an annual basis, Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 3.4%, compared with a gain of 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and an increase of 2.4% expected by economists. (Reporting by Jihoon Lee, Cynthia Kim; Editing by Sonali Paul and Himani Sarkar)
