Korea Development Institute (KDI)
The Korea Development Institute (KDI) announced on the 7th that “the Korean economy has recently experienced a worsening of domestic demand due to the third corona19 epidemic in Korea, but it is believed that the economic slump is partially easing as product exports increase.”
KDI announced the’February economic trend’ on the day and analyzed it as “consumption and employment declined significantly due to the re-proliferation of Corona 19, and the economic sluggishness continued mainly in domestic demand.”
He added, “As external activities contracted due to increased quarantine measures such as corona 19 infection concerns and social distancing, the decline in the consumption of semi-durable goods and the production of the face-to-face service industry increased, the number of employed, mainly in the service industry, and the number of non-economically active population increased significantly.” did.
Credit card sales in January, based on Shinhan Card sales, fell 14.4% from a year ago.
The decline was less than last year’s December (-16.2%), but compared to November (-4.2%), the decline is still large.
KDI predicted, “As the strengthened social distancing measures continue in January, the sluggish consumption will continue for the time being.”
The production of the service industry declined 2.2% in December last year, which is a larger decline from the previous month (-1.4%).
In particular, KDI explained that the accommodation and restaurant businesses (-17.1%→-39.5%) and art, sports, and leisure-related service businesses (-30.0%→-40.6%) contracted sharply due to the strengthened distancing measures in early December.
Employment conditions have also deteriorated significantly, mainly in the service industry and temporary and daily workers.
In December of last year, the number of employed decreased by 628,000 people, a sharp increase from the previous month (-273,000 people). Service industry (-287,000 people → -622,000 people), temporary and daily workers (-206,000 people → -521,000 people) The decline was remarkable.
However, KDI added, “With the improvement of demand for foreign goods, exports and facility investment maintained a high growth trend, while the manufacturing industry continued to grow well.”
At the same time, “the trend of improving product exports, mainly on information and communication technology (ICT) and automobiles, and export prices have risen, and inventory has continued to decline since September of last year.” It is believed that the manufacturing industry is showing solid growth and is partially easing the economic downturn.”
The export growth rate in January was 11.4%, a high growth rate following the previous month (12.6%).
By item, semiconductors (21.7%), wireless communication devices (58.0%), and automobiles (40.2%) showed high growth rates.
In December of last year, equipment investment also increased by 5.3%, with machinery (13.7%) showing a good trend.