The economic slowdown in 2013 led South Korean companies to decrease their social contribution outlays, a report by the lobbying group of large businesses said Wednesday.

According to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), local businesses spent little over 2.81 trillion won on various commitments, down a sharp 13.6 percent from 3.25 trillion won the year before.

The findings were based on a survey carried out on 234 leading companies that engaged in corporate social responsibility (CRS) programs last year and responded to the poll that contacted 600 firms.

The companies said they were forced to cut back on CRS due to a drop in earnings before taxation and early completion of some of the large-scale commitments such as hospital construction that began in 2012. Profits before taxes fell 22 percent on-year, they said.

The FKI said that while the total sum had fallen, companies actually spent more of their pre-tax earnings to meet social responsibilities. 

In 2013, companies spent 3.76 percent of their profits before taxes on CRS, compared with 3.37 in the year before. The federation said the percentage is actually higher than the 1.77 percent reported for 331 Japanese companies measured by the Nippon Keidanren. The Keidanren is the interest group of large conglomerates in Japan.

"Despite cutting the overall money spent, many companies seem committed to maintaining and enhancing their social responsibility programs to better meet the needs of users," Lee Yong-woo, the corporate social bureau head at the FKI, said.

The report said Samsung Group, the country's largest family-run conglomerate, released a detailed manual on how to operate and support off-duty training of employees based on its own experience.

Hyundai Steel has shared its know-how on repairing old homes of the underprivileged, while LG supported youths from multi-ethnic backgrounds.

Others such as SK offered free lunch box programs for children, with POSCO, GS Caltex and Hyundai Motor Co, all operating programs to help create new jobs, support the education of children and fund schools, the FKI said. (Yonhap)