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[Alpha Biz= Kim Sangjin] The Korea Economic Association (KEF) announced on the 22nd that the Business Survey Index (BSI) forecast for February, based on a survey of Korea's top 600 companies by revenue, was recorded at 87.0.
The BSI reflects companies' perceptions of economic conditions. A score above 100 indicates optimism compared to the previous month, while a score below 100 indicates pessimism.
The index has remained below 100 for 35 consecutive months since April 2022 (99.1).
Notably, businesses expect the non-manufacturing sector (81.4) to face greater challenges than the manufacturing sector (93.0). While the manufacturing BSI forecast rose by 8.8 points from the previous month, the non-manufacturing sector fell by 3.5 points, reaching its lowest level since July 2020.
Within the non-manufacturing sector, all sub-industries forecast deteriorating conditions, including information technology (56.3), construction (76.2), retail and wholesale (83.3), electricity, gas, and water supply (84.2), leisure, lodging, and dining (85.7), transportation and logistics (91.7), and professional, scientific, and business support services (92.9). This marks the first time since July 2020 that all non-manufacturing industries have posted negative outlooks. The KEF attributed this to prolonged domestic demand stagnation and weak consumer spending.
In the manufacturing sector, general and precision machinery (126.3) and electronics and telecommunications equipment (105.3) are expected to perform well. Meanwhile, pharmaceuticals, non-metallic materials and products, and automobiles and other transportation equipment hovered around the baseline of 100. The remaining five manufacturing industries are anticipated to face worsening conditions.
알파경제 Kim SangJin (letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
