The industrial production index in December last year, which shows corporate production activities, was 95.4 with 2015 as 100, down 0.1% from the previous month.
The index fell for the first time in two months, and the underlying assessment of production activity remained "weak".
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry analyzes that the reason for the decline in the index is that the production of ordinary passenger cars has declined due to the global shortage of semiconductors, and the production of boilers used for power generation has decreased as a reaction to the increase in November last year.
Regarding the future outlook, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said, ``There is a possibility that production will continue to decline due to semiconductor shortages and price increases.
In addition, last year's (2022) industrial production index fell 0.1% from the previous year due to soaring raw material prices, and fell for the first time in two years.