Korea: Manufacturing firms month-ahead business sentiment falls in December
Manufacturing firms month-ahead business confidence fell to 69.0 in December from November’s 73.0. December’s result marked the weakest sentiment since October 2020. Despite the uptick, the index remained entrenched below the 100-threshold, indicating pessimism among businesses.
Month-ahead business sentiment fell among both export-oriented and domestic demand-oriented manufacturing firms. The fall for export-oriented firms was more acute, likely related with the expected softening of foreign demand due to a weakening global economy.