Consumers in Korea keep losing confidence

Pummeled by the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Korea’s consumer sentiment fell at the fastest clip among major economies in February, data released Thursday showed.

Korea’s composite consumer sentiment index stood at 96.9 for February, down 0.4 from the previous month, according to the data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

It was the sharpest decline among 25 OECD member nations that have published related data. A reading below the 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

Turkey came next with a 0.3 point decrease, and Japan’s consumer sentiment index fell 0.1 point to 98.9.

The steep drop in Korea’s consumer sentiment follows the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus. Korea reported its first confirmed coronavirus case on Jan. 20, with more than 7,700 additional cases and 66 deaths reported as of Thursday.

Yonhap