Key View: Retail Sales in South Korea have recovered and are posting growth on pre-Covid levels. While top-line figures suggest a recovery, looking at sub-segments, there is a mixed recovery, highlighting the shift in consumer purchasing patterns. E-commerce has done particularly well, now accounting for a quarter of all retail sales in the

Key View

• At Fitch Solutions, we believe that consumer spending growth on packet foods in South Korea will remain positive over the coming years, offering investment opportunities.
• We forecast household spending packet foods to expand by 2.0% in South Korea in 2022, reaching KRW3.6trn (USD3.1bn). Over the medium-term (2022-2025), we forecast

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions maintain our forecast for the Bank of Korea to hike its key policy rate 25bps to 1.00% by end-2021 and a further 50bps to 1.50% in 2022, having held at its October 12 policy meeting.
• We believe the BoK will continue its hiking cycle, buoyed by the strength of the economy and rising vaccination rates, while also

Key View

• Samsung Group has announced a KRW240trn (USD206bn) investment in its various subsidiaries to enhance the application of emerging technologies and boost its market shares.
• The investment will mostly be targeted at the Group's semiconductor business in an attempt to boost its market share, as well as its smaller biopharma subsidiaries

Key View:

• We at Fitch Solutions have revised our forecast for South Korea’s key policy rate, from a prior expectation for one hike to 0.75% by end-2021 to our revised forecast of 1.00%, implying two hikes this year.
• Strong economic data, a pick-up in the vaccination rollout and rising household debt are likely to spur the Bank of Korea (BoK)

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions have revised down South Korea’s Short-Term Political Risk Index score from 75.4 to 73.5 to reflect rising uncertainty as the March 2022 presidential elections draw closer.
• While various polls suggest that potential ruling Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung is polling ahead of opposition People’s Power

Key View

• We forecast South Korea’s personal care products spending to grow by 12.2% y-o-y in 2021, following a 3.9% y-o-y contraction in 2020.
• While we note that the sector continues to face headwinds due to the prolonged Covid-19 restrictions, beauty manufacturers have reported strong domestic Q221 earnings, stemming from a low base and

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions forecast alcoholic drinks spending in South Korea to grow by 8.3% y-o-y in 2021, following a 2.3% y-o-y growth in 2020.
• We note that the consumption of alcoholic drinks through the off-trade channel has been accelerated by the Covid-19 outbreak. South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that fruit