SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The life expectancy of South Korean babies born last year reached 83.6 years, data showed Tuesday, hovering above the average of major advanced countries. The average life expectancy at birth in 2021 marked a slight rise from 83.5 years tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 50 percent last month from a year earlier despite the extended chip shortage, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles stood at 28,222 units last month, up from 18,810 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly half of South Korea’s large companies have no investment plans for 2023 or have yet to set up plans amid high economic uncertainty, a poll showed Monday. The survey of 100 out of the leading 500 companies by sales in Asia’s fourth-largest economy showed 10 percent having no [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of agricultural and food products jumped to touch a new record high in the first 11 months of this year, government data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of agricultural and food goods came to US$8.08 billion in the January-November period, up 4 percent from the same period [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean institutions’ investment in foreign securities shrank 5 percent in the third quarter due to estimated losses from their bond and stock holdings, central bank data showed Friday. The outstanding value of foreign securities held by local institutional investors stood at US$354.93 billion as of end-September, down $18.69 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea advanced 8.2 percent on-year in October as demand for travel and transportation services increased on eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Thursday. The value of online shopping transactions came to 17.71 trillion won (US$13.5 billion) in October, compared with 16.3 trillion won tallied a year [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign ownership of South Korean land rose 1.2 percent in the first half of 2022 from the end of 2021, the land ministry said Thursday. Foreigners owned 260.75 square kilometers — slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan — at the end of June. It represents 0.26 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s whisky imports spiked nearly 62 percent in the first 10 months of the year as more people drank at home amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. The value of imported whisky stood at US$218 million in the January-October period, up 61.8 percent from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of camping and hiking equipment rose 2.5 percent on-year through October this year, data showed Wednesday, as more people enjoyed activities avoiding crowds amid the pandemic. The combined imports of leisure equipment, including camping and hiking gear, came to US$304 million in the January-October period, rising [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Large South Korean companies saw their third-quarter borrowing costs jump more than 40 percent from a year earlier due to rising interest rates, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The combined interest cost of 268 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales came to 6.2 trillion won (US$4.7 [...]