Seoul: Sales of domestic market-oriented companies experienced a year-on-year decline in the first half of the year for the first time since 2020 due to sluggish consumer spending, a market analysis revealed Wednesday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, a report released by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) examined the business performance of 814 nonfinancial corporations required to submit financial reports. The report indicated that total sales of these companies increased by 6.7 percent in the January-June period compared to the previous year.

Sales of 194 export-oriented companies rose by 13.6 percent, whereas 620 local market-oriented companies saw a decrease of 1.9 percent. This marked the first on-year decline for domestic-oriented firms in four years since 2020, when sales fell by 4.2 percent. The FKI highlighted that the sales of export firms would reflect a 5.9 percent drop if the performance of Samsung Electronics were excluded.

Corporate investment also experienced a decline for the fir
st time since 2020, dropping by 8.3 percent in the first half. This trend has raised concerns about a potential weakening of the broader economic growth engine. An FKI official commented on the situation, stating, “Amidst ongoing domestic sluggishness, global economic downturn and key industries, like semiconductors, entering a down cycle, there are rising fears that the current export performance may have already peaked.”