The business sentiment index that small and medium-sized enterprises feel for January next year has fallen by 4.5 points from the previous month, showing a decline for three consecutive months.
On the 30th, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises announced the results of the 'January 2025 Small and Medium Enterprises Business Outlook Survey,' conducted from the 11th to the 18th of last month on 3,071 small and medium-sized enterprises. The small and medium enterprises business outlook index (SBHI) for January next year stands at 68.1, a decrease of 4.5 points from the previous month. This marks a decline for three consecutive months and is down 9.4 points compared to January last year (77.5).
The small and medium enterprises business outlook index is a measurement derived from a survey on the economic sentiment and business outlook perceived by small and medium-sized enterprises. A score above 100 indicates a positive outlook, while a score below 100 signifies a negative outlook.
By institutional sector, the manufacturing sector's business outlook for January fell by 5.3 points to 74, while the non-manufacturing sector decreased by 4.2 points to 65.5.
In manufacturing, there were three sectors that increased from the previous month, notably ▲Other transportation equipment (83.4→90.3, 6.9 points↑), ▲Beverages (83→85.6, 2.6 points↑), while ▲Others (87→74.9, 12.1 points↓) and ▲Chemicals and chemical products (85.8→74.9, 10.9 points↓) among the 20 sectors saw a decline.
In the non-manufacturing sector, construction (69.6→64.2) fell by 5.4 points from the previous month, and the service sector (69.7→65.8) declined by 3.9 points. In the service sector, ▲Real estate (69.3→70.6, 1.3 points↑) rose, while ▲Transportation (82.6→69.2, 13.4 points↓) and ▲Accommodation and food services (75.7→66.2, 9.5 points↓) saw declines among nine sectors.
Looking at the January outlook by industrial sector, ▲Exports (81.8→85.4) increased from the previous month, while domestic sales (71.4→67.4), ▲Operating profit (71→68.2), and ▲Financial conditions (72.4→70.5) showed declines compared to the previous month. Employment, which follows an inverse trend (94.5→95.4), is expected to worsen from the previous month.
In December, the major business difficulties facing small and medium enterprises were primarily due to sluggish sales (product sales) at 46%, followed by ▲Rising labor costs (36.4%), ▲Rising materials and supplies prices (28.2%), and ▲Intensifying competition among companies (24.3%).