S.Korea's industrial output growth hits record low in 2019

Source: Xinhua | 2020-02-01

South Korea's industrial output growth hit a record low last year on weak activities in the manufacturing and construction industries, statistical office data showed Friday.

The seasonally-adjusted production in all industries, which exclude the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors, grew 0.4 percent in 2019 from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.

It was the lowest increase since the statistical office began compiling the data in 2000.

Production in the mining and manufacturing industries reduced 0.7 percent last year, marking the fastest reduction since 1998. It was attributed to weak demand for electronic parts and machinery equipment.

The country's export kept skidding for the 13th consecutive month through December on the downturn of business cycle of the global semiconductor industry and the global trade dispute.

Manufacturers logged an average capacity ratio of 72.9 percent in 2019, down 0.6 percentage points from the prior year. It was the lowest in 21 years since 1998.

Completed construction declined 6.7 percent in 2019 from a year earlier, recording the biggest slide since 2008.

The government unveiled a set of measures to curb speculative investment in the real estate market, leading to the slump in the construction sector.

Facility investment diminished 7.6 percent last year, marking the biggest decline in 10 years since 2009. Investment in machinery and transport equipment shrank 8.8 percent and 4.1 percent respectively.

Production in the services industry advanced 1.5 percent in 2019 on brisk activities in the healthcare, social welfare and the information and communications sectors.

Retail sale, which reflects private consumption, increased 2.4 percent last year on robust demand for durables such as automobiles as well as non-durable goods including cosmetics.

In December alone, the production in all industries gained 1.4 percent from a month earlier.

Output in the mining and manufacturing industries expanded 3.5 percent last month. Productions in the machinery and the electrical equipment increased 12.6 percent and 8.9 percent each.

Semiconductor production rose 0.2 percent, keeping an upward trend for the third consecutive month. It raised an expectation for the recovery of the global chip industry in the first half of this year.

Manufacturers registered an average capacity ratio of 74.3 percent in December, up 2.4 percentage points from the previous month. It was the highest since July.

Production in the services industry slipped 0.1 percent in December from a month earlier. Output in the wholesale and retail sector dipped 0.7 percent, with production in the real estate services industry sliding 1.9 percent.

Retail sale grew 0.3 percent last month on solid demand for durable goods such as cars and consumer electronics.

Facility investment gained 10.9 percent in the month, marking the fastest increase since November 2014. Investment in the machinery and the transport equipment expanded 9.1 percent and 15.7 percent each.

Completed construction added 4.1 percent in December.

The cyclical factor for leading economic indicators, which measure outlook for future economic situations, rose 0.4 points last month, continuing to increase for the fourth consecutive month.

The figure for coincident indicators gained 0.2 points, marking the first rebound in four months.