SEOUL, Sept. 30 (WAM) — South Korea’s industrial output increased by 1.2% in August, marking its first rise since April. This growth was primarily driven by higher production in the automobile and semiconductor industries, according to data released on Monday. Retail sales also saw their largest increase in 18 months during August, although investment in facilities experienced a notable decline after two months of growth, as reported by Yonhap news agency and Statistics Korea.
In previous months, industrial output had declined: down 0.8% in May following a 1.4% increase in April, down 0.1% in June, and down 0.6% in July. The rise in August was fueled by a 4.1% increase in the mining and manufacturing sectors—the largest gain since August 2023—highlighted by a 6% uptick in chip production and a 22.7% jump in automobile production. Additionally, the services sector recorded a 0.2% increase, marking its third consecutive month of growth.
An agency official remarked, “The manufacturing sector is performing well, particularly in the chip industry during this bullish cycle, and the service sector has also shown robust growth lately.”
