Seoul: South Korea's business sentiment rose to a nearly four-year high in August, driven by solid confidence in manufacturing and an improved outlook in the service sector during the summer vacation season, a central bank survey showed Wednesday. The Composite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) for all industries stood at 99.6 in August, up 1.1 points from the previous month, indicating a significant boost in corporate optimism.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the reading marked the highest level since September 2022, when the index recorded 102 after the COVID-19 pandemic. The index measures corporate outlooks on overall business conditions, with a reading below 100 indicating that pessimists outnumber optimists. The Bank of Korea (BOK) highlighted that sentiment in the non-manufacturing sector, including transportation, leisure, broadcasting, and film, improved during the peak summer vacation season.

The CBSI among manufacturers climbed 0.6 point to 103.8 in August from a month earlier, while the index for nonmanufacturing companies added 1.5 points to 96.7. The manufacturing index surpassed the 100 mark for the fourth consecutive month after topping the threshold in May for the first time since August 2022. The outlook for September rose 3.1 points to 99.6 from the previous month's prospect of 96.5, the survey showed.

The economic sentiment index, or ESI, which reflects sentiment among both consumers and businesses, went up 1.5 points to 99.4 for August. This improvement in business sentiment reflects a cautiously optimistic outlook for the coming months as various sectors continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.