SEOUL, Jan 31 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s industrial output growth hit a five-year low last year, owing to political uncertainty in the first half, statistical ministry data showed, yesterday.
The industrial production index gained 0.5 percent in 2025, from a year earlier, marking the lowest since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the Asian economy, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
Last year’s slower expansion was attributable to the political uncertainty, caused by the impeached former President, Yoon Suk-yeol’s botched martial law bid in Dec, 2024.
The new South Korean government was launched in June last year through a snap presidential election.
Output among manufacturers increased 1.7 percent on the boom in the semiconductor and the shipbuilding sectors.
Production in the service industry expanded 1.9 percent, due to solid demand in the health and social welfare, and the wholesale and retail sectors.
Manufacturers posted an average capacity ratio of 72.8 percent last year, slightly up from 72.7 percent in the previous year.
The retail sale index, which reflects private consumption, rose 0.5 percent last year, rebounding in four years, thanks to the new government’s cash handouts in the second half, to bolster the lackluster consumer spending.
Facility investment mounted 1.7 percent, but completed construction tumbled 16.2 percent, on the back of the real estate market slump.
In Dec, last year, the seasonally-adjusted production index in all industries, which exclude the agriculture, livestock and fishery sector, grew 1.5 percent compared to the previous month.
The retail sale index added 0.9 percent in the cited month, but facility investment reduced 3.6 percent.
The cyclical variation factor for leading economic indicators, which gauges the outlook for future economic situations, was up 0.6 points over the month to 103.1 in Dec.
The reading for coincident economic indicators, which measures the current economic condition, slipped 0.2 points to 98.5 in the cited month.– NNN-YONHAP