January marked simultaneous drops in industrial output and consumption from a month earlier.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the nation's overall industrial production decreased zero-point-three percent on-month in January, registering the largest decline since shedding zero-point-eight percent in July of last year.

The country's overall output gained zero-point-five percent and zero-point-three percent in August and September, respectively, before losing zero-point-one percent in October. The figure then posted growth for the following two months at one-point-two percent in November and one-point-three percent in December.

Retail sales, a key indicator of consumption levels, declined one-point-nine percent from a month earlier, the largest drop since contracting by five-point-six percent in July of 2020.

It is the first time in 22 months that both industrial output and consumption fell.

Eo Un-seon, a senior official of the statistics agency, cautioned against pessimism, however, attributing the on-month decreases partly to the atypical growth in the previous month. He said the economy is still on trajectory with its recovery.

The official also said there were no strong visible signs that the omicron variant affected retail sales or the services industry. He added, however, that possible increases in external volatility stemming from the crisis in Ukraine remains a source of concern moving forward.

By sector, production in the mining manufacturing industries grew zero-point-two percent from a month earlier, while service sector output dropped zero-point-three percent on-month.

Facility investment increased two-point-five percent.