South Korea's industrial production fell 1.3% in August from the previous month, Yonhap reported on September 30, with retail sales and facility investment also sliding.

It was the first time since May that all three indicators had contracted simultaneously, a setback for an economy that leans heavily on manufacturing and exports.

Output in the mining and manufacturing sector, one of the main pillars of the economy, dropped 4.8%, weighed down by the automobile industry, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Car production tumbled 24.8% month on month on lower output of recreational vehicles, the steepest fall since the 34.9% plunge recorded in May 2020. The decline was attributed to the summer holiday period and a strike. Machinery production rose 3.1%.

The rubber and plastic industry saw output shrink 11% on weaker tyre production.

Service sector output moved in the opposite direction, rising 0.5%. Information and communication output gained 4.7%, while the wholesale and retail segment slipped 0.7%.

Retail sales, a barometer of private consumption, declined 1.8%, driven mainly by durable goods. Sales of durable items such as cars fell 4.5%, and nondurable goods including cosmetics were down 1.6%. Semidurable goods such as clothing bucked the trend with a 0.4% increase.

Facility investment recorded the sharpest drop of the three headline measures, falling 9.5% from July. Spending on transportation equipment collapsed 32.8%, outweighing a 1.6% rise in machinery investment.