Chip production in South Korea shrank for a fourth straight month, falling 15% from a year earlier for the largest drop since 2009, according to data released from the national statistics office.
SEOUL: South Korea’s semiconductor production in November fell by the most since the global financial crisis, weighing on the nation’s industrial output and pointing to a further cooling of overseas demand for tech components as the world economy slows.
Chip production shrank for a fourth straight month, falling 15% from a year earlier for the largest drop since 2009, according to data released yesterday from the national statistics office.
Overall industrial production contracted 3.7% from a year earlier for the biggest fall since the start of the pandemic.
The drop in activity speaks to weakening recovery momentum in a nation closely tied to the world economy. South Korea’s growth is already under pressure from falling exports and rising interest rates at home, with the gloomy outlook overseas adding to concerns.
The probability of recessions in major overseas economies including the United States is rising as the Federal Reserve leads a wave of monetary tightening to combat inflation and Russia’s war on Ukraine continues. While China’s about-turn on its zero-Covid policy suggests its economy will regain more strength going ahead, a surge in infections will complicate the picture near-term.
The weakening chip demand adds to an array of factors making South Korea’s economic outlook more uncertain, including the implications of a recently ended truckers’ strike and a crowd-crush tragedy in Seoul, the Finance Ministry said in a separate statement. — Bloomberg
