Economic Recovery Sentiment Plummets Amid COVID Resurgence... SME December Business Outlook Index Falls for First Time in 2 Months

COVID-19 3rd Wave Rebound Halted for 2 Consecutive Months (Oct-Nov)
Small and Medium Manufacturing October Average Operating Rate Slightly Up from Previous Month

The Small and Medium Business Economic Outlook Index fell by 2.0 points from the previous month to 72.0. This figure is 12.2 points lower than the same period last year. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Business Outlook Index fell by 2.0 points from the previous month to 72.0. This figure is 12.2 points lower than the same period last year.

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 29th that the results came from the 'December 2020 SME Business Outlook Survey' conducted from the 16th to the 24th, targeting 3,150 SMEs.

The SME Business Outlook Index had shown a rebound for two consecutive months. However, the recent nationwide resurgence of COVID-19 has caused this upward trend to falter.

The manufacturing sector's business outlook for December was 78.4, down 2.6 points from the previous month (and down 3.8 points compared to the same month last year). The construction sector (75.0) rose by 1.8 points, while the service sector (67.4) declined by 2.4 points.

Within the non-manufacturing sectors, construction increased by 1.8 points (from 73.2 to 75.0), whereas services decreased by 2.4 points (from 69.8 to 67.4) compared to the previous month.

In particular, the service sector saw significant declines in 10 industries, especially ▲Accommodation and Food Services (from 67.4 to 53.8) and ▲Arts, Sports, and Leisure-related Services (from 61.5 to 49.5).

Additionally, the average operating rate of small and medium manufacturing enterprises in October was 69.5%, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month but down 4.0 percentage points compared to the same month last year. This marks a slight increase for five consecutive months since June.

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