Corporate sales growth hits record 26.7% in Q2, but manufacturing surge hinges on chip giants

South Korean companies' sales grew 26.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace on record, driven by a boom in the semiconductor sector. Manufacturing sales rose 39.6 percent, but when Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are excluded, the sector's sales growth falls to about a third of that figure — underscoring how heavily manufacturing's gains depend on the two chip giants.

According to the Bank of Korea's "Corporate Management Analysis for the Second Quarter of 2026" released Wednesday, the combined sales of 26,509 externally audited corporations — 13,218 in manufacturing and 13,291 in non-manufacturing — rose 26.7 percent in the second quarter. That marks the highest growth rate since the bank began compiling the statistic in the first quarter of 2015, surpassing the previous record of 24.9 percent set in the fourth quarter of 2021. The figure also jumped 13.2 percentage points from the first quarter's 13.5 percent.

Manufacturing sales growth, in particular, surged 18.5 percentage points to 39.6 percent from 21.1 percent in the previous quarter, propelled by the semiconductor boom. The machinery and electrical-electronics sector's sales growth rose to 88.5 percent from 52.1 percent, with the electronics, video and communications equipment segment leading the charge, climbing to 119.7 percent from 75.7 percent.

However, excluding Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, manufacturing sales growth drops to 14 percent — about a third of the headline figure.

In the non-manufacturing sector, transportation (up to 13.6 percent from 8.1 percent) and wholesale and retail (up to 13.7 percent from 7.1 percent) led sales gains.

Transportation growth was fueled by rising maritime freight rates amid the Middle East conflict and increased air cargo demand, while wholesale and retail benefited from broad strength across distributors, including semiconductor sellers and department stores.

Construction sales growth turned positive for the first time in eight quarters, rising to 0.3 percent from minus 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, helped by an expansion in semiconductor factory construction.

By company size, sales growth rose for both large firms (up to 30.5 percent from 16 percent) and small and medium-sized enterprises (up to 10.2 percent from 2.4 percent).

Profitability also improved, led by the semiconductor sector. The operating profit margin across all industries reached 16.9 percent in the second quarter, up 11.8 percentage points from 5.1 percent a year earlier — also the highest level since the first quarter of 2015, surpassing the previous record of 13.2 percent set in the first quarter of this year.

Manufacturing's operating profit margin hit a record 24 percent, roughly five times the 5.1 percent recorded a year earlier and above the previous record of 18.1 percent set in the first quarter.

Within manufacturing, the machinery and electrical-electronics sector's operating profit margin jumped to 43 percent, 5.8 times the 7.4 percent recorded a year earlier.

Because the semiconductor industry carries a high proportion of fixed costs, operating profit rose far faster than sales.

By contrast, the non-manufacturing sector's operating profit margin edged down to 5.0 percent from 5.1 percent, weighed down by weaker profitability in transportation. Higher oil prices and increased costs from using detour shipping routes pulled the transportation sector's operating profit margin down to 4.8 percent from 7 percent.

By company size, operating profit margins rose for both large firms (up to 19.1 percent from 5.1 percent) and small and medium-sized enterprises (up to 5.3 percent from 5.0 percent).

Excluding the two chip giants narrows the gap between manufacturing and non-manufacturing considerably. The all-industry operating profit margin for the second quarter falls to 6.2 percent when Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are excluded — about 37 percent of the headline figure.

"Excluding Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the manufacturing operating profit margin stands at 7.2 percent," said Lee Mi-ju, head of the Bank of Korea's corporate statistics team. "The gap between manufacturing and non-manufacturing is not that large, and both sectors are moving in a broadly similar direction." She added, "Even excluding Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, growth and profitability are improving, and indicators are getting better across the board regardless of sector."

On financial soundness indicators, the overall corporate debt ratio fell to 84.5 percent in the second quarter and the borrowing dependency ratio fell to 22.8 percent, both down from 87 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively, in the first quarter.

However, large firms and small and medium-sized enterprises diverged. Large firms' debt ratio fell to 79.8 percent from 83.8 percent, while that of small and medium-sized enterprises rose to 112.1 percent from 103 percent. Their borrowing dependency ratio also climbed to 31.1 percent from 30.7 percent. "We understand this reflects growing demand for funds among small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in some non-manufacturing sectors such as lodging, dining, and wholesale and retail," Lee said.

Asked about the third-quarter outlook, Lee said, "Based on solid AI investment demand, the strong conditions in the semiconductor industry are expected to continue, and domestic demand is also forecast to recover, so overall indicators are likely to keep improving, led by semiconductor manufacturing." She added, however, "Uncertainty remains high over the Middle East conflict and US tariff policy, so the trend still remains to be seen."