South Korea's business confidence climbed for the ninth consecutive month in February amid growing hopes for recovery.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s(OECD) business confidence index(BCI) on Tuesday, South Korea posted 99-point-five, up point-three points from a month earlier.

The index has been on the rise since June, following a five-month losing streak amid the COVID-19 pandemic that brought it down to 96-point-five.

The index measures business conditions for the six months ahead. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

South Korea's BCI was the 19th highest among the 29 OECD members with comparable figures, with the OECD average standing at 100. Twelve countries, including Chile, Germany and the U.S., had BCIs higher than the benchmark.