More than 90 percent of South Koreans believe the country’s economy has entered a state of depression, a survey showed Sunday, with many expecting current conditions to persist down the road.

In a nationwide survey of 800 people over the age of 19, 93.9 percent of the respondents said the local economy is faced with depression, according to the Federation of Korean Industries. The poll was carried out by Research & Research.

Of those who said the economy is in a state of depression, nearly half expressed fears that the slump may be for the long term, with 48.4 percent saying they expect recovery to begin sometime after 2017, the survey showed.

“More people felt negatively about the state of the economy, with outlooks that household spending might decrease amid growing worries that the slump may be prolonged,” said Song Won-geun, an FKI official.

In the survey, 23.8 percent said they were hit hardest by inflation, while 20.1 percent named a drop in income as having affected them the most. Another 13.4 percent cited household debt, trailed by worries about post-retirement life (12.5 percent) and job security (10 percent).

Regarding inflation, in particular, 80.2 percent of those polled said they felt that the current rate of rising prices was higher than the government estimate of 1.3 percent. About 72 percent said they expect the inflation rate to go up even more next year.

Nearly 52 percent said households will spend even less this year compared to a year earlier, while only 8.5 percent expected the opposite to be true, the survey showed. 

(Yonhap)