By Kang Seung-woo
Korea’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of buying power will become the world’s fourth largest in 2040, an international financial conglomerate said Tuesday.
Citigroup has released the top 10 list of countries based on purchasing power parity (PPP) between 2010 and 2050. According to the report, Asia’s fourthlargest economy is expected to reach the No. 4 spot with $86,109 (96.86 million won) in 2040.
Korea will first enter the top 10 in 2020 with $44,740 and income will rise to a fifth-largest $63,923 in 2030 before landing at $107,752 in 2050.
Citigroup is not the first global financial institution to predict Korea will make the top five in the category.
Goldman Sachs Group, a global investment giant, said in 2007 that by 2050, Korea will become richer in income per capita than any of the current Group of Seven except the U.S.
Korea’s GDP per capita was forecast to reach $81,462 in 2050, if everything goes smoothly.
Considering the nation’s solid growth, the Wall Street company proposed adding Korea to the BRICs, a fast-growing group of Brazil, Russia, India and China, changing the acronym to BRICKs, saying that Korea is better placed than most others to realize its potential due to its growth-supportive fundamentals.
Despite the growing per-capita income, the nation’s economic size will not be as competitive as those of Indonesia and Mexico in the years to come.
In 2020, it will become the world’s 10th-largest economy, but the top 10 finish is likely to be short-lived, as it will tumble out of the table from 2030. Currently, Korea is the 14th-largest economy.
Instead, countries including Mexico, Nigeria, Egypt and Indonesia will enter the top 10.
“Korea has shown signs of fast growth on the back of high technology and competitive manpower, but with its workforce steadily decreasing, the nation will lose its competitiveness,” said the Korea Center for International Finance.
The U.S. financial group said the global economic growth will average 4.3 percent annually by 2030 and 3.8 percent between 2030 and 2050 thanks to fastgrowing emerging markets in Asia and Africa.
It added that the proportion of emerging markets will account for 79 percent of the world economy, compared with 38 percent in 1950.