The South Korea's real gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from three month earlier, compared with a 0.5 percent expansion in the third quarter, the country's central bank said on Thursday.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the fourth quarter's performance was the worst since the first quarter of 1998 when the GDP fell 7.8 percent in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.

The central bank added that Asia's fourth-largest economy declined 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, compared with a 3.8 percent expansion in the third quarter

The figure posted the biggest contraction since the fourth quarter of 1998 when it contracted 6 percent.

During the whole year of 2008, the South Korean economy grew 2. 5 percent, sharply lower than a 5 percent expansion in 2007.

The BOK expects the local economy to grow a mere 2 percent in 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2009)