SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's industrial output growth hit a 19-year low in 2018 due to a falling corporate investment, a government report showed Thursday.
The industrial output index in all industries, adjusted for inflation, grew 1 percent in 2018 from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea. It was the lowest increase since the statistical agency began compiling the data in 2000.
Production in the mining and manufacturing industries rose 0.3 percent last year due to soft demand for automobile and processed metal product. It was down from a 1.9 percent expansion in 2017.
It came as companies refrained from spending capital in new facilities amid the lingering certainties at home and abroad.
Facility investment tumbled 4.2 percent last year, the biggest fall in nine years. Chipmakers refrained from expanding facility amid the expected slide in chip price.
Manufacturers had an average capacity ratio of 72.9 percent in 2018, up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier.
Production among services companies gained 2 percent on strong activity in finance, insurance, healthcare and social welfare sectors.
The retail sale index, which reflects private consumption, advanced 4.2 percent in 2018, marking the fastest increase in seven years as the government sharply raised minimum wage to narrow income inequality.
Construction completed dropped 5.1 percent as the government unveiled a set of measures to control speculative investment in the real estate market. It was the fastest fall in seven years.
In December, the industrial production shrank 0.6 percent compared with the previous month. It marked the second consecutive month of reduction.
Production in the mining and manufacturing sectors reduced 1.4 percent in December from a month earlier. It came as semiconductor output declined for two months on weak demand for memory chips used in mobile phones and servers.
Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, inched up 1 percent in the Jan. 1-Jan. 20 period compared with the same period of last year as chip export declined 9.8 percent.
The country's export posted the first decline in six months in December as demand weakened for semiconductor.
Facility investment reduced 0.4 percent in December from a month earlier, after dropping 4.9 percent in November.
The average capacity ratio among manufacturers retreated 0.4 percentage points over the month to 72.7 percent in December.
Production among services companies shed 0.3 percent in December, but retail sales grew 0.8 percent last month, keeping an upward trend for the third consecutive month.
The cyclical factor for leading indicators, which gauge outlook for future economic conditions, kept falling for the seventh consecutive month through December.
The figure for coincident indictors continued to slide for the ninth consecutive month.
