An analysis of economic performance in 2014 showed that Daegu was the top performing city in Korea, ranking 27th out of 100 major cities in the Asia Pacific region.
○According to the “Asia Pacific Metro Monitor 2014” conducted by the Brookings Institution, Daegu recorded the highest performance among Korean cities, with 3.1 percent growth in its GDP per capita and a 3.4 percent job growth rate last year, ranking 27th out of 100 cities in the region.
- Daegu was followed by Busan-Ulsan, ranking 50th place with 2.8 percent growth in its GDP per capita and a 2.4 percent job growth rate, and Seoul-Incheon in 51st place with 2.8 percent growth in its GDP per capita and a job growth rate of 2.5 percent.
- Based on the 2009-2014 data of the Brookings Institution, which began analyzing the economic performance of major cities in Asia in 2009, Seoul-Incheon ranked 63rd place, Daegu took 64th, and Busan-Ulsan came in 69th, showing that these cities have been the major drivers of the Korean economy in recent years.
○ In particular, the report showed that the 100 major cities in the Asia Pacific region accounted for 20 percent of the global GDP and 29 percent of global GDP growth, serving as a significant source of global economic growth.
- The growth of Chinese cities was especially noteworthy, with the city state of Macao taking first place and 36 other Chinese cities ranking among the top 50.
○ The underlying reasons for Daegu’s excellent performance were its successful industrial restructuring following the 1997-98 Korean foreign exchange crisis and the resulting increase in industrial production and exports.
- Daegu’s industrial production rose by 2.3 percent over that of the previous year, exceeding the nationwide average (0 percent) and ranking fourth in Korea.
* By industry: machinery and equipment (9.0 percent), metal processing (6.5 percent), automobiles (2.8 percent), and textiles (4.5 percent)
- Daegu achieved USD 7.81 billion in exports in 2014, the highest annual record in its history, and ranked second place nationwide in terms of growth rate (11.4 percent).
- Its employment records also showed healthy improvement since 2014, with a 1.6 percent increase in the number of workers, 64.2 percent employment rate, and 3.9 percent unemployment rate.
○ Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said, “Going forward, we are committed to maintaining this trend of economic growth by adamantly pursuing new growth driver industries through various means, such as the creation of a creative economy ecosystem unique to Daegu and the promotion of the medical, environment, and water industries, and ensuring that our new growth bases, i.e., the Daegu National Industrial Complex and Daegu Technopolis, operate at maximum capacity.”
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