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Business sentiment for March turns positive on strong exports

Published: 24 Feb. 2026, 09:37 Updated: 24 Feb. 2026, 19:14

Trade containers are stacked at a container terminal in Busan Port on Feb. 22. [YONHAP]

Korea's business sentiment turned positive for March, marking the first rebound in four years, due to the country's robust exports of chips and automobiles, a poll showed Tuesday.

The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales stood at 102.7 for next month, according to the monthly poll by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists, while a figure above the benchmark indicates the opposite. The index had remained below the benchmark for 47 consecutive months through February.

The BSI outlook for the manufacturing sector came to 105.9 for March, rising sharply from 88.1 in February and reaching its highest point since the 108.6 reading in May 2021.

Within manufacturing, the machinery industry reported a reading of 128.6, with the electronics and telecommunication equipment sector posting 113.3.

The BSI outlook for the nonmanufacturing sector, however, came to 99.4, remaining pessimistic.

"It is significant that business sentiment, which had been sluggish due to the lingering economic slump, has improved," Lee Sang-ho, head of the federation's economic and industrial division, said in the report.

"The National Assembly and the government need to make efforts to keep up with the momentum to revitalize businesses through regulatory reform so that the improvement does not remain a short-term rebound," Lee added.

Yonhap