Key facts
- South Korea's business sentiment index fell to 97.7 in June, down from 98.9 in May.
- This is the first decline in the Composite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) in three months.
- Manufacturer sentiment improved to 101.2, the highest since August 2022.
- Non-manufacturer sentiment dropped to 95.4, primarily due to construction and travel sectors.
- The July business outlook also decreased to 95.2.
- The economic sentiment index (ESI) for consumers and businesses declined to 96.8.
South Korea's business sentiment experienced a downturn in June, marking the first decline in three months, according to a survey by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The Composite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) for all industries fell by 1.2 points to 97.7 in June, down from a 3 1/2-year high of 98.9 in May.
The dip was largely attributed to a decrease in sentiment among non-manufacturing companies, particularly in the construction and travel sectors, which saw their index drop by 2.1 points to 95.4. This marks the first on-month decline in the overall CBSI since March.
Conversely, sentiment among manufacturers improved, with the CBSI for this sector climbing 0.4 point to 101.2, reaching its highest level since August 2022. This is the second consecutive month the manufacturing index has surpassed the 100 mark.
The outlook for July also weakened, with the index projected to fall 2.4 points to 95.2 from the previous month's expectation of 97.6. The broader economic sentiment index (ESI), which encompasses both consumer and business outlooks, decreased by 0.7 point to 96.8 in June.
The BOK survey, conducted earlier in June, included responses from 3,184 companies, with 1,780 of them being manufacturing firms.