Domestic Supply in Manufacturing Down 2.4% Last Year... Largest Decline Since Statistics Began

Decline in Imported Products Share After 10 Years
Semiconductors (-9.9%), Electronics and Telecommunications (-10.3%)
Manufacturing Supply Decreases for 5 Consecutive Quarters

Last year, domestic supply in the manufacturing industry decreased by 2.4%, the largest decline since statistics began in 2010. The significant drop was largely due to a 10.3% decrease in the electronics and telecommunications sectors, including semiconductors, marking the largest decline since the statistics were first compiled. The proportion of imported products among manufacturing products also decreased for the first time in 10 years since 2013.

According to the '2023 Annual Domestic Supply Trends in Manufacturing' released by Statistics Korea on the 15th, domestic supply of manufacturing products last year fell by 2.4% compared to the previous year, with both domestic and imported product supplies declining.

On the 27th, cargo containers are stacked at Pyeongtaek Port as seen from the air. [Aerial photography cooperation = Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Aviation Unit, Pilots: Inspector Shin Seung-ho - Inspector Park Ji-hwan, Crew: Inspector Park Sang-jin] Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Although domestic supply in manufacturing also decreased in 2018 (-0.6%) and 2020 (-1.3%), this is the first time it has declined so sharply since the statistics began.

Supply of domestic and imported products decreased by 2.1% and 3.2%, respectively. By industry, both domestic and imported supplies saw the largest declines in electronics and telecommunications, and machinery equipment. Due to the semiconductor industry's downturn last year, the electronics and telecommunications sector decreased by 10.3%, recording the largest decline since statistics began. Domestic products fell by 12.3%, and imports by 8.6%. Semiconductors also saw the largest decline since statistics began, dropping 9.9%. Domestic supply decreased by as much as 17.4%, while imports fell by 6.2%.

Machinery equipment also declined by 6.6%, with domestic supply down 6.9% and imports down 6.2%.

On the other hand, automobiles increased by 8.7% compared to the previous year, with both domestic (8.7%) and imported (8.6%) products rising.

By product type, domestic supply of final goods decreased by 3.4%. Domestic products fell by 3.3%, while imports recorded a larger decline of 3.8%. Among final goods, consumer goods decreased by 2.3%, with domestic products down 2.5% and imports down 1.6%. Capital goods also declined by 5.1%, with domestic products down 4.4% and imports down 6.5%. Intermediate goods decreased by 1.6%, with domestic supply down 1.1% and imports down 2.5%.

Overall, although domestic supply in manufacturing decreased, imports declined even more, causing the 'import share'?the proportion of imported products?to fall by 0.9 percentage points from the previous year to 27.8%. This is the first annual decrease in import share in 10 years since 2013.

The import share of final goods was 30.7%, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous year, and that of intermediate goods was 25.9%, down 1.0 percentage point. By industry, the import share increased compared to the previous year in chemical products (2.1 percentage points) and medical precision optics (1.7 percentage points), while it decreased in pharmaceuticals (-3.2 percentage points) and non-metallic minerals (-2.6 percentage points).

Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter of last year, domestic supply of manufacturing products decreased by 3.7% compared to the same quarter of the previous year, with domestic supply down 2.2% and imports down 6.9%. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of decline.

Domestic supply decreased by 2.2%, with primary metals increasing by 4.3% but machinery equipment falling by 8.6%. Imported supply decreased by 6.9%, with other transportation equipment rising by 50.6% but electronics and telecommunications falling by 13.7%.

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