APD | South Korean economy expected to improve in the near future

By APD writer Alice

The Korea Development Research Institute (KDI) forecast that the South Korean economy will improve in the coming time, thanks to the increase in retail sales and service production.

In the January Economic Trends report released on January 9, KDI said that in November 2019, the country’s industrial production increased 1.2 percent from a 0.2 percent decline in October. In particular, the manufacturing and mining sectors decreased by 0.3 percent, lower than the fall of 2.1 percent in October. The service sector rose by 2.5 percent, higher than the 0.8 percent increase in the previous month.

In November, retail sales, an indicator reflecting consumer trends, went up by 3.7 percent as compared to October, of which, automotive products increased by 7.6 percent and cosmetics up 25.7 percent.

The consumer confidence index reached 100.4 points, exceeding the standard of 100 points.

However, KDI believes that investment and manufacturing will continue the trend of stagnation. In November 2019, investment fell by 2.3 percent, representing a slight improvement from the reduction of 2.5 percent in the previous month. The inventory rate in manufacturing stood at 116.3 percent, higher than the rate of 115.6 percent recorded in October.

In November 2019, South Korea enjoyed a trade surplus of 2.02 billion USD, lower than the figure of 4.18 billion USD in the same period of 2018.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)