It seems South Korea's small-and-medium-sized companies are the firms taking the biggest hit from the ongoing restructuring of the local manufacturing sector..
SMEs in the nation's service sector also remain stuck in a rut.
Kim Ji-yeon reports.
Data released by Statistics Korea on Monday shows industrial output among small-and-medium-sized companies in the country's manufacturing sector, particularly those making auto component parts,... declined for the eighth month in a row in September.
Output dropped more than four-percent during the January-to-September period compared to the same period last year... the biggest on-year slump since 2009 when the South Korean economy was in a tailspin in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
The statistics agency said the current industrial structure where SMEs have to heavily rely on conglomerates for profits played a part as well.
The rising competitiveness of Chinese companies... as well as the relocation of South Korean factories to countries with cheaper labor were also cited as major factors.
In comparison, industrial output among conglomerates in the manufacturing sector contracted by a mere zero-point-four percent on-year over the same period.
However, it's not just the manufacturing sector that's struggling, output among SMEs in the service sector is also sluggish,... due to a downturn in the food and lodging industries.
During the January-to-September period, output edged up a mere one-point-six-percent from a year earlier,... the lowest rate of increase since related data was first compiled in 2015.
In contrast, output by conglomerates in the service sector rose more than two-percent on-year.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.