The World Congress of the Econometric Society is convened once every five years, bringing together 11 regional conferences across six continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Africa). This year’s Congress was especially significant as it was the first to be held in Korea.

The 2025 Congress drew approximately 2,500 economists from 62 countries−including Professor James Robinson of the University of Chicago and laureate of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, and Economic Adviser Hyun Song Shin of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)−for a week of vibrant academic exchange.

Major sessions addressed pressing global economic issues such as low fertility and female labor market participation, the economic implications of artificial intelligence (AI), tariff wars led by the U.S. and their geoeconomic implications, stablecoins and digital currencies, and the challenges of population aging.

Especially, on August 21st, KIEP organized a special policy research session with other government-affiliated research institutes under the theme of “Economic Implications of Population Aging and Policy Responses.”

In this session, Dr. Hyo Sang Kim, Head of the International Finance Team at KIEP, presented on “Can Demographic Changes Explain the Current Account Surplus in Korea? The Role of Net Foreign Asset Accumulation in Ensuring Long-term External Balance.” Dr. Meeroo Kim, Research Fellow of the Public Finance and Social Policy Team at KDI, spoke on “The Impact of Demographic Changes on Household Debt and Its Implications.” Dr. Jaeryang Nam, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Labor Institute (KLI), presented on “Would Legislation for Mandatory Retirement Affect Actual Employment?” and Dr. HyunSeok Kim, Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), delivered a presentation on “Substitutability between Digital and Human Capital in the Context of Aging: An Analysis of the Korean Economy.”

The Congress was widely acknowledged as a significant forum for elevating the global stature of Korea’s economics community and imparting renewed impetus to its engagement in the international academic sphere.

- Title: 2025 World Congress of the Econometric Society (ESWC)

- Date: Monday to Friday, August 18-22, 2025

- Venue: COEX, Seoul

- Host: Econometric Society

- Organizers: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences (NRC), Korea Development Institute (KDI), Korean Economic Association, Bank of Korea, Seoul National University, Korea University, Sogang University, Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, among others

- Contact: Yena Song, Researcher, International Finance Team (syena@kiep.go.kr)