Bank of Korea Survey Shows Growing Pessimism in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Outlook

[NEWSMP] The business outlook for the Korean pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, which had shown some improvement in the second half of the year, is becoming increasingly negative.

According to the “Business Survey and Economic Sentiment Index for September 2026” report released by the Bank of Korea on September 29, the Business Survey Index (BSI) for business conditions in the pharmaceuticals & medicinal chemicals sector came in below 90 for both the September results and the October outlook.

Although the exports BSI, which had fallen sharply in the previous month, showed some improvement, key BSI indicators remained in double digits, with both the sales and domestic sales BSIs declining from the previous month.

The BSI is an index compiled each month based on a survey of around 3,500 incorporated businesses nationwide, assessing their views on current business conditions and their outlook for the following month.

The index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of companies reporting negative responses from the percentage reporting positive responses and then adding 100.

Accordingly, a BSI below 100 indicates that negative responses outnumber positive ones, while a reading above 100 indicates that positive responses outnumber negative ones.

For September, the business condition BSI fell to 88, dropping below the 90 mark for the first time in three months. The sales BSI declined from 95 to 93, while the domestic sales BSI fell from 93 to 88.

In addition, the production BSI fell from 98 to 93, while the facility investments BSI slipped from 95 to 93. The financial situation and human resources BSIs both declined to 83.

On the positive side, the exports BSI rose to 95 from 89 in the previous month, while the new orders BSI jumped from 89 to 98. The profitability BSI also rebounded to 93 from 82. Meanwhile, the operation ratio BSI remained unchanged from the previous month at 98.

The October outlook showed a similar pattern. The business condition BSI fell to 88, while the sales BSI dropped sharply from 105 to 90, domestic sales from 98 to 90, production from 105 to 98, operation ratio from 109 to 100, and facility investments from 107 to 95.

Meanwhile, the exports BSI edged up from 92 to 95, while the profitability BSI rose from 82 to 90, bringing it back to the 90 mark. The new orders BSI remained unchanged at 95.