The International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank have both raised their economic growth forecasts for Korea this year to 2.6%. Shown is the financial neighborhood of Yeouido in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo-gu District. (Seoul Tourism Organization)

By Kang Gahui

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have both raised their economic growth forecasts for Korea this year to 2.6%.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy on July 9 said the ADB in its 2026 Asian Economic Outlook raised its projection from 1.9% made in April and next year's projection from 1.9% to 2%.

The ADB said its revision reflected Korea's stronger-than-expected growth in the first quarter and government policy toward the Middle East conflict that supported the economy.

The bank added that strong semiconductor exports led by rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) will largely offset the effects of external jitters like energy inflation and supply chain disruptions.

In its July World Economic Outlook Update released the day before, the IMF also raised its growth forecast for Korea from 1.9% to 2.6% and from 2.1% to 2.5% for 2027.

The fund said Korea will rank first in growth this year among the world's top 30 economies and among the top four in net exports of AI hardware. Though heavily dependent on energy imports from the Middle East, the country in the first quarter surpassed the IMF's April forecast of 1.8% due to strong exports of chips and AI hardware.

kgh89@korea.kr