SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's economy recorded the first contraction in 22 years last year as the COVID-19 pandemic weakened both export and consumer spending, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

Real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, contracted 1.0 percent in 2020 from a year ago, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the first decline since 1998 when the real GDP tumbled 5.1 percent amid the foreign exchange crisis. The country's first-ever GDP reduction was tallied in 1980 when the real GDP slipped 1.6 percent.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, diminished 2.5 percent last year, marking the first fall in 11 years amid the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak across the world.

Private consumption dived 5.0 percent last year, logging the biggest yearly slide since 1998.

Despite the negative GDP growth in the whole year of 2020, the economy rebounded in the second half.

The real GDP grew 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter from the prior quarter, after expanding 2.1 percent in the third quarter. It went down 1.3 percent in the first quarter and 3.2 percent in the second quarter. Enditem

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