In January, Production and Consumption Both Rise in Gwangju... Investment Indicators Deteriorate

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] In January, the production of light industry and sales at large retail stores in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions showed improvement.

According to the "Industrial Activity Trends" released by the Honam Statistics Office on the 2nd, Gwangju's light industry production increased by 9.5% compared to the same month last year.

By industry, ▲Tobacco (-26.3%) ▲Food products (-12.9%) ▲Metal processing (-7.9%) decreased, while ▲Beverages (138.7%) ▲Automobiles (19.4%) ▲Electronic components, computers, audiovisual equipment (7.8%) increased.

Light industry production continued its upward trend with increases of 13.5% in November and 20.3% in December last year compared to the previous year, but decreased by 0.9% compared to the previous month.

The sales index of large retail stores was 101.1, an increase of 10.9% compared to the same month last year. Department stores increased by 22.3%, but large marts decreased by 1.4%.

Construction orders amounted to 188.6 billion KRW, a decrease of 22.5% compared to the same month last year.

The public sector saw a staggering increase of 13,046.1% year-on-year due to increases in public enterprises and local governments, whereas the private sector decreased by 28.0% year-on-year due to declines in real estate, finance, insurance, and services.

The building sector decreased by 23.4%, but the civil engineering sector increased by 293.6% year-on-year due to increases in roads, bridges, and water supply and sewage.

Jeonnam's light industry production increased by 11.5% compared to the same month last year.

By industry, ▲Wood products (-100.0%) ▲Primary metals (-7.5%) ▲Metal processing (-4.3%) decreased, while ▲Rubber and plastics (28.6%) ▲Chemical products (25.8%) ▲Electricity, gas, and steam (10.4%) increased.

Light industry production continued its upward trend with increases of 13.8% in November and 13.0% in December last year, and also increased by 0.9% compared to the previous month.

The large retail sales index was 93.5, an increase of 5.3% compared to the same month last year.

Construction orders amounted to 440.1 billion KRW, an increase of 341.1% compared to the previous year. The public sector increased by 290.1% year-on-year due to increases in local governments and public enterprises, and the private sector increased by 365.3% year-on-year due to increases in primary metals, petroleum, and chemicals.

The building sector decreased by 3.1% year-on-year, but the civil engineering sector increased by 480.2% compared to the same month last year due to increases in machinery installation, roads, and bridges.

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