S. Korea's service sector sales grow 2.2 pct in 2019

SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- Sales of South Korea's service industry grew at the slowest pace in six years in 2019 due to weaker oil prices and consumer sentiment, government data showed Tuesday.

Service sector sales came to 2,188 trillion won (US$1.98 trillion) last year, up 2.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It was the lowest growth rate since the 0.8 percent increase in 2013 and hovered well below the average annualized increase of 7.2 percent between 2009 and 2019.

"In particular, the wholesale sector's revenue shrank last year due to falling oil and gas prices," the statistical agency said. "Service industry sales also took a hit from slumping consumer confidence."

According to a survey by the central Bank of Korea, the country's consumer confidence stood at 98.5, down from 103.3 the previous year.

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

The data also showed per-company sales of 735 million won last year, up a mere 0.4 percent from a year earlier.

The number of service companies reached 2.98 million in 2019, up 1.9 percent from the prior year, with the industry's workforce increasing 2.8 percent on-year to 12.53 million.

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