South Korea's industrial output in January dropped mainly due to a fall in the manufacturing of electronic components and sluggish service sector production.
According to Statistics Korea on Tuesday, overall industrial production edged down point-6 percent in January compared to the previous month.
This marks the first on-month decline in eight months when industrial production fell 1.5 percent in May 2020.
The production of electronic components in January dropped 9.4 percent, as the output of LCD panels fell.
Service production edged down point-2 percent, as the travel and sports industries were hit hard by the pandemic.
But compared to the same period a year earlier, overall industrial output gained 1.4 percent.
"Overall industrial output in January saw an on-month decline due to the negative impact caused by the pandemic, and as the country saw sharp growth in December last year."
But even with tougher social distancing measures, consumption rose for the second straight month.
Retail sales were up 1.6 percent the biggest jump in five months.
This was helped by strong sales of home appliances due to the extremely cold weather and as more people stayed home.
Facility investment also spiked 6.2 percent on-month.
The country's Purchasing Managers' Index, which shows the direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors, recorded 55.3 in February up about 2 points from the previous month.
This is the largest figure shown by the index in 11 years and it has been rising for five straight months, showing signs of an economic recovery.
Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.
02:22
Israel removes mask mandate for outdoors... 53% of population vaccinated
02:11
02:21
02:38
02:20
02:00
00:37
01:52
