Report published September 30, 2026

South Korea August Activity: A Sharp IP Pullback on Weak Auto and Tech — Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs · September 30, 2026

South Korea's headline industrial production tumbled 4.8% mom sa in August 2026, falling well short of Bloomberg consensus (+0.3%) due to heavy contractions in auto and tech output. Total output fell 1.3% mom sa, registering the steepest sequential slowdown since October 2025 amid persistent retail sales declines.

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Finvaulta summarizes Goldman Sachs's analysis. Attribute opinions, forecasts, time-sensitive values, and chronology to the issuer and report date; do not treat this page as an independent verification or a current market-data source.

Key Takeaways

1.Headline industrial production dropped by 4.8% mom sa in August, significantly below consensus (+0.3%) and GS forecasts (-0.5%), driven heavily by a 24.8% plunge in auto production.
2.Overall output contracted 1.3% mom sa—the steepest sequential decline since October 2025—while retail sales extended their fall by 1.8% mom sa.
3.Manufacturing inventory-to-shipment ratio rose to 100.9 while capacity utilization fell to 99.6, marking its lowest level since May.

Bottom line
Key numbers
Main points

Report data

Exhibit 1: Sharp decline in August IP

Metric	Estimate	Context
Industrial Production Growth	-4.8%	Headline industrial production dropped month-on-month seasonally adjusted
Bloomberg Consensus IP Growth Forecast	0.3%	Bloomberg consensus forecast for August month-on-month IP growth
Auto Production Growth	-24.8%	Auto production fell month-on-month seasonally adjusted, affected by summer holidays and strikes
Overall Output Growth	-1.3%	Overall output sequential month-on-month seasonally adjusted change
Services Output Growth	0.5%	Services output rebounded month-on-month seasonally adjusted