S.Korea's potential economic growth predicted to drop to 4.3 pct in 2011-2020

South Korea's potential growth rate will fall to an average 4.3 percent from 4.9 percent from 2006 to 2010 due to a drop in the country's labor force and the amount of working hours, said a report by a South Korean government advisory body on Monday.

According to "the Vision 2030 Project Advisory Committee" composed of state and private-level economists, during the 2011- 2020 period, the economic growth from the labor input, gauging the number of a nation's workers and working hours, will fall to minus 0.1 percent from a 0.4 percent growth in 2006-2010.

As the number of workers and per-capita working hours declines, the potential growth rate will fall to an average 2.8 percent from 2021 to 2030, the committee said. A variety of government measures, including childcare support and greater female employment, are needed to raise the labor pool, the report said.

South Korea's statistics office predicted last month that South Korea's population will decline from 2020 and the economically active population will drop to 35.51 million in 2020.

Potential growth rate refers to the growth rate that a nation can achieve by utilizing its capital and labor force at a full capacity without fueling inflation.

From 1991 to 2000, the potential growth rate of South Korea was 6.3 percent, down from 8.2 percent in 1982-1990. From 2001 to 2005, the growth rate stood at 4.4 percent.

Source: Xinhua