The average growth rate of sales of non-financial listed companies has been decreasing for the past couple of years.
And last year, it actually turned negative… with many manufacturers seeing their sales and profits slump.
Song Ji-sun has more. Korean manufacturers entered a phase of negative growth last year.
According to the Federation of Korean Industries on Monday... sales of over one thousand listed companies decreased one-point-five percent as of the third quarter of last year... compared to the same period a year earlier.
Profit growth also slowed to negative 18 percent last year... from a one percent growth in 2013.
The trend was more noticeable among manufacturers -- which account for more than 70 percent of the firms surveyed.
Their combined profit dropped from 75 to 62 billion dollars -- a 23-percent fall from a nine percent expansion in 2013.
Seven out of Korea's ten largest companies in terms of revenue... saw their profits drop 30-percent on average... on slumping domestic demand coupled with slowing exports due to weakened global demand.
And that includes Korea's largest companies and conglomerates, like Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group, SK and Hanwha.
Officials at the Federation of Korean Industries say manufacturers need government support for more business-friendly policies.
They say such a slowdown could dent the pace of new job creation and facilities investment.
Industry analysts point out that companies first need to restructure and cut costs to improve their profitability.
Song Ji-sun, Arirang News.