Production, Consumption, and Investment Triple Increase in 3 Months (Supplement)

Statistics Korea, September Industrial Activity Trends

Busan Port Sinsundae Pier Container (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Last month, industrial production, consumption, and investment indicators all rose together. It is the first time in three months since June.

According to the 'September Industrial Activity Trend' announced by Statistics Korea on the 30th, total industrial production (seasonally adjusted, excluding agriculture, forestry, and fisheries) increased by 2.3% compared to the previous month.

Manufacturing production increased by 5.4% month-on-month, driven by automobiles (13.3%) and semiconductors (4.8%). Petroleum refining (-3.0%) and others decreased.

Manufacturing inventories decreased by 2.5% compared to the previous month. The inventory ratio fell by 11.0 percentage points to 109.8% compared to the previous month.

The average operating rate of manufacturing rose by 4.2 percentage points to 73.9% compared to the previous month.

Service production increased by 0.3% month-on-month, with wholesale and retail trade (4.0%) and transportation and warehousing (2.7%) rising. On the other hand, finance and insurance (-2.4%) decreased.

Retail sales, which indicate consumption, rose by 1.7% month-on-month as sales of nondurable goods such as food and beverages (3.1%) and semi-durable goods (1.5%) increased, although durable goods such as passenger cars (-0.7%) declined.

Facility investment also increased by 7.4% month-on-month, driven by investment in transportation equipment such as ships (34.3%).

Construction performance also rose by 6.4% month-on-month, with both building (7.0%) and civil engineering (5.0%) construction results increasing.

Accordingly, the coincident index cyclical component rose by 0.3 percentage points month-on-month, and the leading cyclical component, which forecasts future economic conditions, increased by 0.4 percentage points.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.