Global investment banks raise South Korea’s 2026 growth outlook to 1.9%

November 06, 2025 (MLN): Major global investment banks (IBs) have upgraded South Korea’s 2026 economic growth forecast to 1.9%, citing sustained export strength, according to a report by the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF).

As of end-October, eight leading IBs including Barclays, Bank of America, and Citi projected Asia’s fourth-largest economy to expand 1.9% next year, up 0.1 percentage point from a month earlier, APP reported.

The outlook is brighter than the Bank of Korea’s (BOK) current forecast of 1.6%, which will be revised later this month.

Among the institutions, Citi lifted its forecast to 2.2% from 1.6%, while JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs also projected 2.2% growth. Nomura expected 1.9%, followed by UBS at 1.8%, Barclays at 1.7%, and Bank of America at 1.6%, according to the KCIF.

The IBs anticipate South Korea’s export momentum to remain solid in 2026, supporting continued economic expansion after this year’s strong performance.

They also raised their estimate for the current account surplus-to-GDP ratio to 5.3%, up from 4.7%, the report noted.

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