South Korea's February factory output contracts most in over 11 years
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A photo from Feb 28, 2020, shows a Hyundai Motors factory in Ulsan, South Korea.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
SEOUL (REUTERS) - South Korea's factory output contracted at its sharpest pace in more than 11 years in February, official data showed on Tuesday (March 31), adding to evidence of a sharp economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
Industrial output shrank by a seasonally adjusted 3.8 per cent in February from a month earlier, worse than a 1.8 per cent fall tipped in a Reuters survey and the biggest drop since a 10.5 per cent plunge in December 2008. It shrank 1.3 per cent in January.
On a year-on-year basis, the factory output jumped 11.4 per cent, far better than a 2.6 per cent fall in January. The virus impact is expected to weigh further as the number of infections spiked across the world in March.
