June Industrial Production Down 0.1% for Second Month... Consumption and Investment Rebound (Update)

Statistics Korea, June Industrial Activity Trends

Export containers are piled up at Busan Port. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Last month, industrial production continued its negative trend for the second consecutive month, but consumption and investment indicators both rebounded.

According to the "June 2024 Industrial Activity Trends" released by Statistics Korea on the 31st, total industrial production last month decreased by 0.1% compared to the previous month. The growth trend that had continued for four consecutive months since November last year was interrupted in March (-2.3%), turned positive in April (1.4%), but then continued a negative trend for two consecutive months in May (-0.8%) and June.

By sector, industrial production increased in mining and manufacturing (0.5%), but decreased in public administration (-5.1%) and construction (-0.3%).

Within mining and manufacturing, production declined in pharmaceuticals (-11.7%) but increased in semiconductors (8.1%) and chemical products (1.2%). In the service sector, production decreased in arts, sports, and leisure (-5.0%) but increased in finance and insurance (1.8%) and real estate (2.4%).

Manufacturing inventory sharply decreased by 2.8% compared to the previous month, and the average operating rate rose by 0.9 percentage points to 73.9%.

Consumption indicators turned positive. Retail sales, which reflect consumption trends, increased by 1.0% compared to the previous month. Sales declined in non-durable goods such as food and beverages (-0.9%), but increased in durable goods such as passenger cars (5.2%) and semi-durable goods such as shoes and bags (0.8%).

Facility investment decreased by 2.8% in transportation equipment such as automobiles but increased by 6.5% in machinery such as special industrial machinery, resulting in an overall 4.3% increase compared to the previous month.

Domestic machinery orders decreased by 3.8% year-on-year, with orders declining in both public (-19.8%) and private (-2.8%) sectors. Construction orders (current) increased in civil engineering such as railroads and tracks (61.7%) and in building construction such as factories and warehouses (8.2%).

The coincident index, which reflects the current economic situation, was 98.7, down 0.1 points from the previous month. The leading index, which predicts future economic trends, rose by 0.2 points to 100.8 compared to the previous month.

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