South Korea's industrial output grew slightly on-month in March, rebounding from a drop in the previous month, helped by increased production by manufacturers, a government report showed Wednesday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 0.9 percent last month from February. This marked a turnaround from the previous year when the output shrank 1.9 percent.

Production in the service sector also inched up 0.1 percent on-month in March. This followed a revised 0.6 percent drop tallied a month earlier, the report showed.

"In March, electricity, gas and tap water businesses saw their output shrink, but the production in mining and manufacturing expanded, leading to the 0.9 percent growth," the agency said.

The agency attributed the increased production by manufacturers to robust exports of automobiles, memory chips and other tech products.

The report showed that automobile production expanded 5 percent on-month in March, while semiconductors and parts saw their output grow 5.1 percent over the same period. The overall manufacturing production went up 0.9 percent.

The average facility operating ratio in the manufacturing sector also rose to 77.2 percent in March from the revised 75.9 percent in February.

Consumption and corporate investment both posted rebounds from the previous month's drop.

Retail sales rose 1.6 percent on-month in March, a turnaround from the revised 3 percent fall in February.

Corporate investment in facilities also expanded 1.5 percent on-month in March following a 0.5 percent fall tallied a month earlier, the report said.

The data comes as South Korea's economy is showing signs of growth momentum. The country's gross domestic product expanded 3 percent in 2013, the fastest yearly growth since 2011.

The government expects the country's economy to grow 3.9 percent this year as the rebounding global economy will help boost its exports. (Yonhap)