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December PMIs Diverge: South Korea and Taiwan Rebound, Eurozone Slips, India Slows

Final readings underscore Germany’s deeper downturn alongside Spain’s relapse into contraction.

A Hanwha Aerospace engineer works at a factory in Changwon, South Korea, March 16, 2023.   REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
A steel worker walks through an electric-arc furnace at Hascelik Melt Factory near Bilecik, Turkey, October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Solinotes perfume bottles are filled on the production line at the Corania factory in Les Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille, France, August 1, 2025. REUTERS/Manon Cruz
A man works at a production base of China Construction Steel Structure Corp Ltd (CSCEC Steel) in Meishan, Sichuan province, China September 3, 2019.  REUTERS/Stringer

Overview

  • Asia’s tech-heavy exporters regained traction as PMIs showed South Korea back to 50.1 and Taiwan at 50.9, with surveys citing firmer export orders and new product launches.
  • South Korea’s survey pointed to the strongest new orders since November 2024, a jump in optimism to the highest since May 2022, and the sharpest input price rise since July 2022 that lifted output prices.
  • India’s HSBC Manufacturing PMI fell to 55.0, a 38‑month low, with new orders at a two‑year trough, exports at a 14‑month low, hiring near stall speed, and subdued price pressures.
  • Eurozone manufacturing weakened further with the final HCOB PMI at 48.8, a nine‑month low, as new orders fell faster, firms cut staff, and input costs ticked up to a 16‑month high.
  • Germany’s final PMI dropped to 47.0 with output back in contraction, export sales falling for a fifth month and input prices rising again, while Spain slipped to 49.6 with the steepest job reductions in two years.