Bank of Korea data showed Thursday that growth of gross national income, which indicates purchasing power, stood at its lowest level in the past six quarters.

The GNI for the third quarter inched up 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, which marks the lowest rate since it posted 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012.

It is a noteworthy slowdown, compared to the 2.9 percent growth in the second quarter of 2013 and 0.8 percent in the first quarter.

According to BOK officials, the stalled growth in national income during the July-September period reflects a sharp rise in oil prices that adversely affected trade. Higher import costs offset the nation’s export earnings, cutting into purchasing power.

“Oil prices climbed to record-high levels, while prices of export products kept falling, resulting in no growth in national income,” said a BOK director general.

He also said an increase in the payment of dividends to foreign stock investors has negatively affected the real GNI figure.

Meanwhile, Korea’s gross domestic product expanded 1.1 percent in the third quarter of 2013 from the second quarter.

Private spending grew 1.0 percent from the second to the third quarter, holding almost steady from an earlier estimate of 1.1 percent.

Exports, however, declined 1.3 percent, dropping more than the previous projection of 0.9 percent.

State-led spending increased 0.1 percent on-quarter in the third quarter, sharply slowing from a 2.4 percent gain in the previous quarter.

Facility investment rose 1.0 percent last quarter. Construction investment advanced 3.2 percent.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)