South Korea's industrial output contracted for three straight months in December last year amid lingering concerns over Eurozone debt crisis and global economic downturn, a government report showed Tuesday.

Output in mining, manufacturing and electricity & gas sectors diminished 0.9 percent in December from a month earlier after shrinking 0.3 percent and 0.6 percent respectively in November and October, according to the Statistics Korea.

The industrial production expanded 2.8 percent on year last month, marking the 30th straight month of on-year growth, but the output growth was slower than 5.8 percent on-year expansion tallied in November.

The December on-month contraction cams as weak demand for beverage and primary metal outweighed strong performance in audio & video equipment and nonmetallic minerals, according to the report. Production in beverage shrank 15 percent on-month in December, with those of primary metal and chemical products falling 2.3 percent and 1.9 percent respectively.

Shipment in the mining firms and manufacturers grew 0.4 percent on-month in December due to solid performance in chips and parts, while inventory in the sector expanded 2.8 percent over the same period.

Local manufacturers operated at an average capacity of 77.6 percent last month, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous month. The factory utilization rate stood at 82.2 percent a year earlier.

Production in the service industry stayed unchanged in December from a month before as upswings in transportation and education sectors were offset by downswings in wholesale & retail and finance & insurance sectors, according to the report.

Retail sales posted a 0.2 percent on-month reduction in December as underperformance in durable goods such as computers and automobiles outweighed strong sales of semi-durables and non- durables.

Meanwhile, facility investment expanded 0.5 percent on-month in December, sharply down from 8 percent on-month growth tallied in the previous month. It was mainly attributable to reduction in transportation equipment sector despite capital spending increase in machinery sector.

The value of construction completed at constant price surged 14. 8 percent on-month in December, while construction orders received at current price expanded 16.4 percent on-year last month.

The leading index of economic indicators, which gauges business activities eight to 15 months ahead, rose 1.5 percent on-year in December, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous month.

The coincident index, measuring current economic conditions, was down 0.1 point last month from a month before, marking the four straight month of on-month fall.