South Korean manufacturers' domestic supply fell for the third consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter of last year amid the fallout of the prolonged pandemic, data showed Monday.

The manufacturing domestic supply index stood at 108.3 in the October-December period, down 1.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the quarterly index has fallen since the second quarter of 2020, when it declined 4.5 percent on-year, the sharpest fall since the third quarter of 2018.

The index, which measures both locally produced goods and imports, serves as a major indicator of the trend of domestic demand.

The index for consumer goods declined 1.2 percent on-year in the cited period, after growing 1.2 percent three months earlier.

The supply for capital goods -- which refers to machinery used in industrial sectors -- declined 7.3 percent on-year, compared with a 5.1 percent on-year gain in the third quarter.

But the supply of intermediate goods inched up 0.9 percent on-year in the fourth quarter, compared with a 2.2 percent decline three months earlier, the data showed.

For all of 2020, local manufacturers' domestic supply fell 0.9 percent on-year, compared with a 0.8 percent on-year decline in 2019.

The South Korean economy is on a recovery track on the back of robust exports, after it contracted in 2020 for the first time since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

The country's exports rose 11.4 percent on-year in January on the back of brisk demand for chips and cars, according to data by the trade ministry. (Yonhap)