South Korea's economic growth slowed to the lowest in three years last year due to a slump in exports amid tightening monetary policies around the globe, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's real gross domestic product -- a key measure of economic growth -- increased 1.4 percent last year, in line with the central bank's earlier estimate, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). But last year's economic expansion marked a slowdown from a 2.6 percent advance in 2022 and 4.3 percent growth in 2021. The 2023 expansion marks the lowest since a 0.7 percent contraction in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. "High rates, high inflation and a slowdown in the IT sector led to a slump in exports and private spending," the central bank said. For the year, the bank expects the economy to rebound slightly at around 2 percent. In the final quarter of last year, Asia's fourth-largest economy advanced 0.6 percent on-quarter. The central bank said last year's expansion came as exports and domestic demand remained relatively sound. The country's exports climbed 2.8 percent last year, slowing from the previous year's 3.4 percent gain, while imports also decelerated to 3 percent from 3.5 percent. Exports have marked an on-year drop since October 2022 amid the global economic slowdown and aggressive monetary tightening by the United States and other major economies to bring inflation under control, although outbound shipments rebounded in September. Private spending logged a 1.8 percent rise last year, compared with a 4.1 percent advance the previous year. Government spending also slowed to 1.3 percent from 4 percent, and construction investment increased 1.4 percent last year, a turnaround from a 2.8 percent decline, according to the data. Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a recovery pace since it contracted 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 in the face of aggressive monetary tightening in major countries, escalating geopolitical tensions, rising household debt and a slow down in China's economy, the country's top trading partner. Earlier this month, the central bank held its key interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for the eighth straight time as it weighs a slowdown in growth amid moderating inflation. The rate freezes came after the BOK delivered seven consecutive rate hikes from April 2022 to January 2023. Source: Yonhap News Agency