South Korea: demand softens in midst of weak global outlook

摘要

The South Korean economy weakened throughout the course of the year, as fragile global sentiment dragged on this export-led economy. Indeed, the HSBC South Korea Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) shrank for the first time in five months in June to 49.4 points. The PMI further dropped in July to 47.2 points, and despite a slight recovery to 47.5 points in August, economic activity is subdued, amid strikes in the auto sector and falls in exports. Consequently, CRU's GDP growth for South Korea has been revised down to 2.3% y-o-y for 2012.