The Korea Development Institute and KDI diagnosed that the economy has entered a 'slowdown' phase.
It is judged that the slump in exports has deepened, leading to the shutdown of the manufacturing economy and the slowdown of the service sector.
In the 'January Economic Trends' released today, KDI said, "Recently, as the slump in exports deepens, the economic slowdown has become visible, especially in the manufacturing sector."
After diagnosing in November of last year that 'indices suggesting the possibility of a slowdown in the economy have increased' and in December that 'the possibility of a future slowdown is increasing', they have begun to acknowledge the economic slowdown in earnest.
“We diagnosed a slowdown as the manufacturing economy continued to decline due to sluggish exports centered on semiconductors,” said Cheon So-ra, head of forecasting at KDI. "he said.
In December of last year, exports decreased by 9.5% from a year ago, and semiconductors in particular plunged by 29.1%.
Production in the service industry increased by 2.6%, but the increase was less than the previous month, which was 4.8%.
Consumer price inflation is on the decline, but KDI believes that a rise in public utility rates will limit the rate of inflation in the future.
KDI pointed out, "As the impact of domestic and foreign interest rate hikes gradually ripples through to the real economy, there is a possibility that downward pressure on the economy will further expand in the future."