South Korea's industrial output fell 0.6 percent in December from a month earlier due in part to decreased exports of cars and semiconductors, government data showed on Jan. 31, 2019.
The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed semiconductor output fell 4.5 percent in December from a month earlier as chip exports declined 5.9 percent during the same period.
Production of cars declined 5.9 percent in December from a month earlier as overseas shipments of cars fell 10.5 percent during the same period.
Semiconductors and cars are two of the key exports of Asia's fourth-largest economy.
From a year earlier, industrial output moved up 0.3 percent.
Production in the service sector fell 0.3 percent on-month in December due in part to decreased output in the information and communications sector.
Retail sales gained 0.8 percent in December from a month earlier due to increased sales of passenger cars and clothing. Retail sales rose 3 percent on-year last month.
Facility investment fell 0.4 percent in December from a month earlier due to a decline in imports of display manufacturing equipment.
For the whole of 2018, South Korea's industrial output rose 1 percent from a year earlier, marking the slowest gain since 2000, when the statistics agency started compiling related data. (Yonhap)
