SEOUL — South Korea’s factory output contracted at its sharpest pace in more than 11 years in February, official data showed on Tuesday, adding to evidence of a sharp economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
Industrial output shrank by a seasonally adjusted 3.8% in February from a month earlier, worse than a 1.8% fall tipped in a Reuters survey and the biggest drop since a 10.5% plunge in December 2008. It shrank 1.3% in January.
On a year-on-year basis, the factory output jumped 11.4%, far better than a 2.6% fall in January. The virus impact is expected to weigh further as the number of infections spiked across the world in March. (Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Kim Coghill)
