Increasing inventory is raising concern for the manufacturing sector as companies continue to stockpile their produced goods.

Statistics Korea revealed on Saturday that manufacturers' inventories rose ten-point-four percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The figure has steadily dropped from the third quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of last year.

It then shifted to point-one percent growth in the second quarter of 2017 after which the increase expanded to post eight-point-eight percent growth in the fourth quarter.

The ten-point-four percent increase in this year's January to March period is the steepest growth since the first quarter of 2016.

Inventory is goods that a business has on hold and has yet to be sold in the market. 

A rapid rise in inventory levels can be considered a sign the economy is slow.