▲ This file photo, taken April 21, 2022, shows stacks of containers at a port in South Korea's southeastern city of Busan. (Yonhap)
▲ This file photo, taken April 20, 2022, shows the shopping district of Myeongdong bustling with citizens as South Korea lifted almost all COVID-19 social distancing rules. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) industrial output-March

(LEAD) Consumption, investment both fall in March amid recovery concerns

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout; CHANGES headline; ADDS photo)

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's industrial output rebounded in March after two straight months of decline, but consumption and facility investment lost ground in the latest sign that economic recovery momentum remains fragile, data showed Friday.

Industrial production increased 1.5 percent in March from the previous month, compared with a 0.3 percent on-month drop in February, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

Compared with a year earlier, industrial output rose 3.1 percent.

Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, declined in March amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. Retail sales fell 0.5 percent on-month, after remaining flat in February.

Facility investment decreased 2.9 percent in March, compared with a 5.6 percent decline in February.

The statistics agency said industrial output turned to growth last month as service output and exports remained robust.

"But domestic demand-related data were sluggish in the indication that economic recovery momentum remains fragile," Eo Woon-sun, a senior Statistics Korea official, told reporters.

Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a recovery track on the back of robust exports and improving private spending. But it faces heightened economic uncertainty as soaring energy prices have put upward pressure on inflation amid Russia's war with Ukraine.

In terms of an economic outlook for April, Eo cited robust exports and the lifting of almost all COVID-19 social distancing rules as positive factors.

"But amid global supply chain disruptions, the Ukraine crisis and China's COVID-19 lockdown of its major cities could weigh on the economy. Uncertainty for growth momentum still remains high," he added.

South Korea's consumer prices grew 4.1 percent in March from a year earlier, the fastest on-year gain in more than 10 years, amid surging fuel prices. The Bank of Korea aims to keep annual inflation at 2 percent over the medium term.

The International Monetary Fund recently lowered its 2022 growth outlook for the South Korean economy to 2.5 percent, while raising its inflation projection to 4 percent.

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