Q4 Business Outlook for Korea's Biohealth Industry Weakens

[NEWSMP} The business outlook index for Korea's biohealth industry declined somewhat in the fourth quarter after rising sharply in the third quarter.

Nevertheless, positive assessments continued to prevail in exports, facilities investment, the operation ratio of facilities, and employment.

On the 18th, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) released a report titled "Manufacturing Business Survey Index (BSI) Survey Results (Q3 2026 Conditions and Q4 Outlook)".

According to the report, most BSI outlook indices for the biohealth industry declined in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, although many remained in triple digits.

KIET has conducted BSI surveys of domestic manufacturing companies since 2002 to assess business conditions and outlooks across major manufacturing industries in Korea.

The surveys are conducted both online and offline, and the BSI is calculated based on responses collected from a total of 1,500 companies.

The questionnaire consists of seven response options ranging from "significant decrease (deterioration)" to "significant increase (improvement)," with "almost unchanged (same)" serving as the midpoint. The BSI is calculated by converting the average of responses, scored from 1 to 7, into a value ranging from 0 to 200.

A BSI reading below 100 indicates that negative responses outnumber positive ones. Conversely, readings above 100 indicate that positive responses predominate.

According to the report, most major BSI indices for the biohealth industry in the third quarter declined compared with the second quarter.

The index for business conditions fell from 94 to 91, sales from 95 to 89, domestic demand from 94 to 88, exports from 99 to 88, the operation ratio of facilities from 102 to 94, ordinary profit from 92 to 86, and financial conditions from 92 to 85.

Meanwhile, facilities investment edged up from 103 to 104, while employment rose slightly from 99 to 100, with both indices recording triple-digit readings.

The outlook for the fourth quarter also generally weakened compared with the third quarter, although positive assessments continued to prevail.

The outlook indices for exports and the operation ratio of facilities declined from 109 to 105 and from 103 to 101, respectively, with both remaining in triple digits. Meanwhile, facilities investment rose from 102 to 103, while employment remained unchanged at 101.

However, the outlook index for business conditions fell from 101 to 96, sales from 103 to 97, and domestic demand from 101 to 95, with all three indices dropping below 100.

In addition, the outlook indices for ordinary profit and financial conditions declined further, from 96 to 92 and from 97 to 93, respectively.