BSRIA publishes new study: South Korea Air Conditioning Market 2020June 2021

In 2020, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea's economy declined by 1%. The drop in consumer demand, and a cooler than usual summer, resulted in a sharp decline in air conditioning sales. Even though transaction levels in residential and office buildings increased significantly, sales of air-conditioning did not see the same trend. However, the market is expected to see a recovery in 2021.

The sales volume of the South Korean PAC market was above 2 million units in 2020, with a year-on-year decline of more than 15%, while the sales value of the CPAC market was more than USD 340 billion, with a year-on-year decline of about 3%.

South Korean VRF market trend in volume, 2019-2025

Sales of all other residential and commercial PAC products have decreased, except for window units, which have seen two consecutive years of substantial growth. This is due to the increasing proportion of single family houses and increasing need of small rooms instead of regular house, which has resulted in vertical type of windows AC units increasing in popularity in South Korea.

South Korea Single splits market trend in volume, 2019-2025

The sales volume of single splits declined sharply in 2020. South Korea experienced waves of COVID in the first half and the fourth quarter of 2020. In the relatively safer summer period of the third quarter, there were more than 50 days of cool wet weather from July to August. This cool period in the peak season for AC sales severely restricted the performance of the retail market.

South Korean Chiller market trend in value, 2019-2025

The chiller market declined by about 3% in value. Lower investment in 2019, and the impact of the pandemic on the construction sector were the main reasons for decline. In 2020, investment in the semiconductor industry increased significantly, and government infrastructure investment also increased in 2020. However, the impact of these on the chiller market will be seen from 2021 onwards.

For further details of BSRIA’s WWAC publication on South Korea please contact us:

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