In December, South Korea's industrial production increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6%, surpassing expectations of a 0.5% rise, as reported by Statistics Korea. This follows a revised jump of 3.6% in November, originally stated as 3.3%.
Year-on-year, industrial output rose 6.2%, exceeding predictions of a 6.0% gain, and following a revised increase of 5.5% in the prior month, initially reported as 5.3%.
The total industrial production index in December rose 0.3% month-on-month and 1.1% year-on-year. The Manufacturing Production Index also increased by 0.6% on a monthly basis and 6.7% annually. Both the Manufacturing Shipment Index and Manufacturing Inventory Index also recorded changes, rising 3.2% and falling 4.4% respectively on a monthly basis. The former saw a 6.8% annual increase, while the latter stood level on the year.
The Production Capacity Index recorded a 1.6% monthly and 2.7% yearly increase, while the Index of Capacity Utilization Rate dropped 1.8% monthly and 0.1% yearly. The monthly average manufacturing capacity utilization rate recorded was 70.8%, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points from the previous month.
Other indices including Services, Retail Sales, and Equipment Investment also saw changes. The Services Index increased by 0.3% month-on-month and 0.2% year-on-year, while the Retail Sales Index dropped 0.8% on both a monthly basis and 2.2% annually. The Equipment Investment Index saw a monthly jump of 5.5% and a yearly decrease of 5.9%.
Additionally, the Annual Domestic Machinery Shipment Index fell 7.8%, while the value of Domestic Machinery Orders Received increased by 12% year-on-year. The construction sector also experienced changes with the value of construction outputs at constant prices declining by 2.7% monthly and 1.2% yearly, whereas the value of Construction Orders Received at current prices saw a significant annual increase of 34.9%.
Lastly, the Composite Coincident Index, which reflects the current economic situation, dropped slightly by 0.1% on a monthly basis. The Composite Leading Index, predicting the turning point in the business cycle, increased by 0.4% from the previous month.
Statistics Korea also reported that retail sales dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in December, missing expectations of a 0.6% decline. This follows a revised increase of 0.9% in November, originally reported at 1.0%.
