The composite consumer sentiment index stood at 103.9 in December, down 3.7 points from the prior month, according to the Bank of Korea.
It marked the first fall in four months as the government toughened social-distancing rules to curb the COVID-19 resurgence.
In the latest tally, South Korea reported 3,865 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, lifting the total number of infections to 615,532. The daily caseload fell below 4,000 in 28 days.
Meanwhile, sub-indices lost ground. The index for future economic situation dived 8 points over the month to 88 in December, and those for the current economic situation and prospective consumer spending shrank by 2 points and 5 points each.
Inflation expectations, which gauge outlook over headline inflation for the next 12 months, came to 2.6 percent in December, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.
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