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This photo, taken on Dec. 30, 2020, shows a quiet alley of Seoul's shopping district of Myeongdong in central Seoul amid an uptick in new coronavirus cases. (Yonhap) |
South Korean restaurants' business sentiment sank to an all-time low in the fourth quarter of 2020 amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the country, a state food distribution firm said Monday.
The business survey index for the country's restaurant industry came to 59.33 for the October-December period, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.
It was the lowest quarterly tally since the state-run company began compiling the index in 2011.
The fourth-quarter number was lower than the 57.96 for the first quarter of last year when the country was hit by the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak. It also was below the 61.19 posted in the second quarter of 2015 amid the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.
A reading below 100 means the number of companies forecasting their businesses will worsen beat those expecting improvement.
The corporation said the local restaurant industry has been in a long slump due to the coronavirus outbreak as tougher social distancing measures force people to avoid dining out. (Yonhap)
