(MENAFN) According to data from the statistical office, South Korea's domestic supply in the manufacturing industry experienced a third consecutive quarterly decline, primarily driven by reductions in both domestic production and imported manufacturing products.
The index of domestic manufacturing supply, which encompasses locally produced and imported manufacturing goods, registered at 102.5 in the January-March quarter, marking a 2.4 percent decrease compared to the same period a year earlier, as reported by Statistics Korea. This downward trend has persisted since the third quarter of the previous year, reflecting growing concerns over an economic deceleration.
The decline in domestic manufacturing supply was attributed to a 0.6 percent decrease in locally produced goods in the first quarter, following a 1.2 percent decline in the previous quarter. Concurrently, the import of manufacturing products experienced a notable 6.7 percent drop during the same period, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of decline.
As a result of these trends, the proportion of imports to the total domestic manufacturing supply decreased by 0.9 percentage points year-on-year, amounting to 27.5 percent in the first quarter.
Furthermore, the domestic supply of intermediate goods, including materials and components utilized in manufacturing production, contracted by 4.0 percent in the first quarter, following declines of 1.0 percent and 1.8 percent in the third and fourth quarters of the previous year, respectively.
While the supply of consumer goods decreased by 3.2 percent during the same period, capital goods supply expanded by 4.9 percent, offering a mixed picture of performance across different sectors within the manufacturing industry.
Overall, the data suggests ongoing challenges in South Korea's manufacturing sector, highlighting the need for concerted efforts to address underlying factors contributing to the decline in domestic supply and to stimulate economic growth and stability.
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