New data finds that production saw a slight recovery last year, but the country’s consumption indices worsened drastically. 

According to Statistics Korea on Monday, the nation’s overall industrial output posted growth of one-point-seven percent in 2024 over 2023, after production of semiconductors surged more than 20 percent and the electronics and telecommunications industries increased production more than 15 percent.  

However, the agency was quick to add that the retail sales index, an important gauge of consumption, decreased by two-point-one percent in 2024, posting a decline for the third consecutive year. 

It was the steepest fall in 21 years, since the index slipped three-point-one percent in 2003 amid a credit card crisis.

On Sunday, the government announced plans to inject 18 trillion won, or some 12 billion U.S. dollars, to boost the economy and devise emergency export plans within the month.