One production index, five very different industry paths
Measured every August from 2020 to 2026 to avoid comparing across seasons, Korea's construction production index fell from 99.5 in August 2023 to 75.3 in August 2026 — down 24.3%. Over the same span, the services index rose 25.1%. Both sit on the same 2020=100 base.
Read this before the table: why August-to-August, not the latest month
This index is not seasonally adjusted (KOSIS labels it 원지수, "original index"). Production swings up and down with the calendar every year for reasons unrelated to any trend — comparing the latest reading against a different month (say, last December) would mix a seasonal pattern into what looks like a trend. Every figure on this page compares the same month, August, across years.
August readings, by sector (2020=100)
| Sector | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All industries (ex. agriculture/forestry/fishing) | 95.3 | 101.5 | 107.8 | 109.8 | 111 | 111.2 | 113.3 |
| Mining & manufacturing | 94.3 | 105.1 | 104.5 | 105.8 | 110.2 | 112.6 | 110.1 |
| Services | 97.1 | 102 | 112.3 | 114.7 | 115.3 | 116.2 | 121.5 |
| Construction | 87.9 | 85.9 | 90.3 | 99.5 | 90.3 | 74.3 | 75.3 |
| Public administration | 91.7 | 94.9 | 100.3 | 95 | 96.3 | 95 | 95.9 |
Source table carries only an "original index" (not seasonally adjusted); figures are each year's August reading.
What this page does not say
- No cause is assigned for construction's decline or services' rise — interest rates, housing policy, project pipelines, none of that is claimed here.
- No seasonally-adjusted series — this source table does not publish one; August-vs-August is the workaround, not a substitute for one.
- No forecast — this describes where each index has been, not where it is going.
This is not investment advice. It describes how a published production index has moved across five sectors — it does not say which sector is a better or worse investment.
Source
전산업생산지수(원지수) — All-industry production index (original index), via KOSIS (101/DT_1JH20201).
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