SEOUL, The yearly domestic supply by South Korean manufacturers fell by the most ever last year amid an economic slowdown, data showed Thursday.

The manufacturing domestic supply index declined 2.4 percent on-year to 105 in 2023, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It was the sharpest fall since 2010 when the agency began compiling related data, and marked the first on-year decline since 2020 when the figure shed 1.3 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The index, which measures both locally produced goods and imports, serves as a major indicator of a country’s domestic demand, with the base number for 2010 set at 100.

The drop came as the domestic supply of electronic and telecommunication products tumbled 10.3 percent on-year. That of mechanics equipment also declined 6.2 percent.

Supplies of cars, however, jumped 8.7 percent on-year in 2023.

The supply of imported goods and locally made goods lost 3.2 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, due mainly to the falling supply of electronic
s and mechanics equipment, among other items.

The index for consumer goods lost 2.3 percent, and that for capital goods fell 5.1 percent. The supply of intermediate goods decreased 1.6 percent on-year over sluggish exports.

In the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, the domestic supply index shed 3.7 percent on-year, the fifth consecutive quarterly fall, the data showed.

Source: Yonhap News Agency