A state-run think tank says that South Korea’s overall industrial output remains tepid amid the continuing trend of sluggish exports.

The Korea Development Institute(KDI) delivered the diagnosis in its latest report on economic trends released on Tuesday.

The KDI said that production and shipment in the mining industry further dwindled due to a drop in the number of working days. However, it stressed that domestic consumption has been gradually improving to ease the pressure of the prolonged economic slump to some extent.

The think tank predicted that despite an inch-up in May, exports will unlikely revive in the near future due to the slump in overseas economies and stagnant trade.

In May, exports grew zero-point-six percent compared to the same month last year. However, shipments of most flagship export items, such as petroleum products, ships, IT products and automobiles, continued to decrease. Imports dropped nine-point-three percent, a slight recovery from a fall of 14-point-nine percent in April.

The consumer sentiment index stood at 99 in May, down from 101 a month earlier. Consumer prices gained a mere zero-point-eight percent and remained relatively low with a limited rise in the prices of farming, livestock and marine products.