South Korea's artificial intelligence(AI) industry lags behind other countries despite outstanding local information and communication infrastructure, according to new data. 

The Federation of Korean Industries said Tuesday that analysis by British firm Tortoise Media's Global AI Index released in February showed that growth of South Korea's AI sector was relatively slow.  

According to the federation, South Korea ranked eighth out of 54 countries surveyed in the index, which gauged nations on their level of investment, innovation and implementation of AI. 

The index scored and ranked each country in seven categories: talent, infrastructure, operating environment, research, development, government strategy and commercialization.  

South Korea ranked within the top five only in the infrastructure and development categories while ranking low in talent, government strategy and operating environment. In these categories, South Korea scored below average.