Korea's industrial output rises 1.4% in August

Published : Oct 2, 2018 - 09:19 Updated : Oct 2, 2018 - 09:24

South Korea's industrial output advanced in August from a month earlier, helped by a rise in auto production, government data showed Tuesday.

Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rose 1.4 percent on-month in August, following a revised 0.5 percent on-month gain in the previous month.

From a year earlier, industrial output also climbed 2.5 percent, following a revised 1.0 percent on-year rise tallied for July.

(Yonhap)

Production in the service sector rose 0.1 percent on-month last month, with a 1.6 percent on-year rise.

Retail sales remained flat during the one-month period, compared with a 0.3 percent on-month gain in July. They rose 6 percent on-year.

Facility investment continued to decline, falling 1.4 percent on-month, following a 0.3 percent on-month drop in July and marking a decline for six straight months.

For all industries, production gained 0.5 percent on-month in August, following an adjusted 0.6 percent on-month rise the previous month. On a yearly basis, industrial production rose 1.5 percent, the latest data showed.

The statistics office said improvements in auto and chip production contributed to gains in August's industrial output.

Production of vehicles surged 21.8 percent from the previous month, and plastic production gained 5.1 percent.

The average factory operation rate stood at 75.7 percent, up 2.5 percentage points from a month earlier. (Yonhap)