The South Korean economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than in the previous quarter as construction investment contracted, the central bank said Thursday.

   Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, grew 0.9 percent in the October-December period from three months earlier, compared with a 1.1 percent on-quarter gain in the third quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

   The fourth-quarter growth was the slowest since a 0.8 percent on-quarter gain in the first quarter.

   From a year earlier, the local economy grew 3.9 percent in the fourth quarter after gaining 3.3 percent on-year in the third quarter.

   For the whole of 2013, Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 2.8 percent, as earlier anticipated.

   The data came as the BOK maintained its 2014 projection for the economic growth at 3.8 percent while it lowered the inflation outlook to 2.3 percent from its earlier estimate of 2.5 percent.

   The central bank froze the key interest rate at 2.5 percent for the eighth straight month in January as the local economy is on the recovery track amid tame inflation.

   Exports, which account for around 50 percent of the GDP, gained

2 percent on-quarter in the fourth quarter after falling 1.3 percent on-quarter in the previous quarter.

   Private spending rose 0.9 percent on-quarter last quarter after gaining 1 percent in the third quarter.

   Facility investment rose 6.4 percent last quarter, compared with a 1 percent on-quarter gain in the previous quarter.

Construction investment contracted 3.8 percent, compared with a 3.2 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, the BOK said. (Yonhap News)