[THE INVESTOR] South Korea‘s economic output increased in 2014 from a year earlier, a central bank report showed Wednesday.

But output by the manufacturing sector fell, along with the portion of trade in total supply also shrinking.
 

The country’s total supply, which equals total consumption, came to 4,237.8 trillion won ($3,598.1 billion) in 2014, up 0.7 percent from the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea. The reading was a turnaround from a 0.2 percent on-year drop in the previous year.

Total output or supply increased despite a 4.2 percent drop in imports, as domestic production advanced 1.7 percent on-year to 3,564.1 trillion won.

On the demand side, domestic consumption gained 1.6 percent on-year while exports dipped 3 percent. Output by the manufacturing sector continued to shrink for the fourth consecutive year with its portion of total output slipping 0.9 percentage point to 48.5 percent in 2014.

The service sector‘s portion gained 0.9 percentage point to 40.9 percent, while the construction sector accounted for 5.5 percent of the total.

Due to large drops in both exports and imports, the portion of trade in the country’s overall supply and consumption shrank to 33.6 percent, compared with 35.1 percent in 2013, the BOK(Bank of Korea) said. 

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)