S. Korea's industrial output rises in 2024 despite persistent weak domestic demand

South Korea's industrial production rose for the first time in four months in December, rounding off the year with an overall rise.

Data from Statistics Korea on Monday showed that industrial output rose by 2-point-7 percent in the last month of 2024, contributing to an increase of 1-point-7 percent for the entire year compared to 2023.

Manufacturing output showed growth due to a boom in the semiconductor sector, while services output continued to show a downturn.

This comes on the back of weak performance in the retail and wholesale sectors especially with domestic demand failing to recover from the fallout of the December martial law declaration.