South Korea’s industrial landscape shifts from manufacturing to service

South Korea’s industrial landscape has moved from manufacturing to service-driven businesses over the past decade as the shipbuilding and construction sectors have suffered from a prolonged global slump, data showed Monday.

The top five sectors of the nation’s 100 largest companies by market value in 2015 were in the service, petrochemical, construction, IT and retail industries, according to the data compiled by market researcher CEO Score.

In 2006, shipbuilding, engineering, construction, tech and petrochemicals were the five pillars of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, they showed.

Domestic consumption-related industries grew at the fastest pace over the past 10 years as the global economic slowdown has weighed on the country’s key exporters such as shipbuilders and builders.

The number of service companies doubled to 10 in 2015, and retail companies rose from four in 2006 to seven in 2015.

In contrast, tech and shipbuilding companies each decreased from eight to seven over the period.

LG Household & Healthcare Ltd., South Korea’s second-largest cosmetic company, was the top earner among all companies on the back of the growing popularity of its beauty products in China.

The shift in South Korea, an export-oriented economy, was more drastic than other advanced nations.

In the United States, medical companies held firm ground with 17 among the top 100 companies over a period of 10 years, while IT and auto companies remained as the key industries in Japan, the researcher said.