Industrial production and investment in our country decreased in November compared to the previous month. Notably, construction performance decreased for the seventh consecutive month, showing 'the longest decline' since record-keeping began. Consumption, on the other hand, saw a rare increase for the first time in three months. Although it escaped the 'triple decrease' record, where production, consumption, and investment all decreased a month ago, the industry overall remains sluggish.
According to the 'November 2024 industrial activity trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 30th, last month's all-industry production (seasonally adjusted, excluding agriculture, forestry, and fishing) index was 112.6 (2020=100), a 0.4% decrease from the previous month. This marks a three-month consecutive decline for September (-0.4%), October (-0.2%), and November (-0.4%). This pattern, with decreases across all fields including mining, manufacturing, construction, services, and public administration, is the first seen since March last year.
Looking specifically at production, mining and manufacturing production fell by 0.7% from the previous month. While electricity and gas increased, mining and manufacturing decreased. Particularly in manufacturing, the variance among sectors was significant. Semiconductors, which showed record-high performance, and petroleum refining both increased by 3.9% and 1.8%, respectively, but there was a slump in automobiles (-5.4%) and electronic components (-4.7%).
Manufacturing inventories, focused on communication and broadcasting equipment and semiconductors, decreased by 0.8% from the previous month. The manufacturing inventory rate (inventory-to-shipment ratio) improved, falling by 0.5 percentage points to 111.8% from the previous month.
Service industry production decreased by 0.2% from the previous month. There was an increase in information and communication, but a significant decrease in finance and insurance. Retail increased while automobiles and wholesale decreased, resulting in flat wholesale and retail production from the previous month. In the accommodation and food service industry, all sectors, including restaurants, bars, and accommodations, increased, showing a 2.3% rise compared to the previous month.
A measure of domestic consumption, retail sales, showed a 0.4% increase from the previous month. Despite declines of 0.7% in non-durable goods like food and beverages and 0.1% in durable goods like passenger vehicles, sales increased by 4.1% for semi-durable goods such as clothing, entertainment, hobbies, and sports goods. Kong Mi-sook, director of economic trend statistics at Statistics Korea, noted, "The milder winter weather than expected spread the sales of winter apparel over October and November," adding that "sales of game consoles also increased."
Facility investment decreased by 1.6% from the previous month, influenced by reduced machinery investment, including special industrial machinery. Construction completion, indicating construction performance, decreased by 0.2% from the previous month. There was an increase in civil engineering performance, but building performance decreased. Notably, construction completion has decreased for seven consecutive months since May. This marks the longest decline since related record-keeping began in August 1997.
The coincident index, reflecting the current economy, dropped by 0.5 points to 97.6. The coincident index had declined for seven consecutive months from March to September, then showed flat in October, but fell again last month, indicating a poor trend. However, the leading index, which predicts future economic conditions, rose by 0.1 points to 100.8 from the previous month. The leading index shows a sideways trend without significant fluctuations month to month.