SEOUL: South Korea's industrial output shrank for the first time in five months in January, official figures showed on Thursday, dampening hopes for a robust recovery for Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries shrank a seasonally adjusted 1.5 per cent compared with December, marking the first monthly fall since August, state-run Statistics Korea said.
Compared with a year earlier, January's reading was up 7.3 per cent, compared with a revised 0.5 per cent decline in December.
Auto production rose nearly 18 per cent from a year ago and 1.5 per cent from December, but many other major sectors showed a sharp decline.
Production of electronic devices such as mobile phones shrank 10.1 per cent from a month ago and 6.8 per cent from a year ago, while computer production also fell 4.4 per cent from December and 62.6 per cent from a year earlier.
Chipmaking and other technology component production dropped 6.2 per cent from a month ago but rose 15 per cent from a year ago.
South Korea's export-driven economy was badly affected by shrinking demand overseas due to the eurozone sovereign-debt crisis and a slowdown in China.
The economy grew 2.0 per cent for the whole of 2012 -- the slowest pace in three years -- compared with 3.6 per cent growth in 2011.
The central bank recently slashed its forecast for economic growth for this year to 2.8 per cent from 3.2 per cent estimated last October.
- AFP/ck
S. Korea industrial output slows in January
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S. Korea industrial output slows in January
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S. Korea industrial output slows in January
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