South Korea’s manufacturing sector growth lagged behind the service sector for the first time in 39 months in the third quarter amid the global economic slowdown, data showed Thursday.

The country’s manufacturing industry grew 1.3 percent in the July-September period from a year earlier, compared with a 2.4 percent on-year advance logged by the service sector, according to data by the Bank of Korea.

In the third quarter, Korea’s economy grew 1.6 percent from a year earlier and 0.2 percent from the previous quarter.

It marked the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that growth of the manufacturing sector lagged behind that of the service sector.

In the second quarter of 2009, the manufacturing sector tumbled 7.1 percent from a year earlier while the service sector inched up 0.4 percent on-year.

This trend had continued from the fourth quarter of 2008 until the second quarter of 2009 when Korea was hit hard by the global financial crisis.

The contribution of the manufacturing sector accounted for 0.3 percentage point of the third-quarter growth, while that of the service sector made up for 1.2 percentage points of economic growth, the BOK said.

The South Korean economy heavily relies on exports for growth, which makes the country vulnerable to trends in the global economy.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy is likely to grow 2.4 percent this year and 3.2 percent next year, according to estimates by the central bank. (Yonhap News)