SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than three months earlier on decreased demand and construction investments, central bank data showed Wednesday.
In the October-December period, the country's gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, decelerating from a 0.6 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 2.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier.
The central bank data showed government spending grew 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with a 1.4 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, while private spending went up 0.2 percent on-quarter, decelerating from a 0.5 percent on-quarter gain during the same period.
It also showed that facility investments grew 6.3 percent on-quarter in the October-December period, compared with a 0.2 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier.
"The slowdown in private spending had an effect on lowering the growth rate, despite the hike of facility investments," said Chung Kyu-il, director of the Economic Statistics Department at the BOK.
Output in the manufacturing sector rose 1.8 percent in the October-December period from the previous quarter, shifting from a 0.9 percent decline a quarter earlier. Chung said the hike came as production activities normalized following the strike by Hyundai Motor Co. and Samsung Electronics Co.'s termination of the production of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
Exports, a major pillar of growth for the South Korean economy, fell 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, while imports increased 0.2 percent.
Gross domestic income, on the other hand, increased 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, compared with a 0.4 percent decline three months earlier, the BOK said.
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