Korea's potential growth rate is only 2 percent...The U.S. turned the tables again.

As the population decreases rapidly, Korea's potential growth rate has been reversed by the United States.

According to the National Assembly Audit Data Book submitted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to the National Assembly, Korea's potential growth rate this year estimated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development was 2%.

For the second consecutive year, it has lagged behind the U.S. this time following last year's 2% level.

It reached 2.4% in 2020 and 2021, but fell to 2.3% the year before, before slumping to 2% last year and this year.

Potential growth rate refers to the potential GDP growth rate that can be achieved without causing inflation while mobilizing all factors of production, including labor, capital, and resources of a country.

In terms of the labor force, which is the core of the potential growth rate, it was analyzed that the working-age population decreased due to the low birth rate and aging population.

Jeong Gyu-cheol, head of the Economic Outlook Division at the Korea Development Institute, said, "In order to increase the potential growth rate in the long term, we need to increase the utilization of the labor force of the elderly population, structural reforms and proper resource allocation."