South Korea’s industrial landscape has changed dramatically in the last three years as the manufacturing industry, the country’s traditional growth engine, shrank in the wake of an global economic slowdown while the information technology and electronics sectors arose as the new market leaders, data showed Monday.

The aggregate value of listed firms in the nation’s main stock market tallied 1.19 quadrillion won ($1.15 trillion) as of July 31, a 4.7 percent surge from Aug. 3, 2011, according to data compiled by CEO Score, which tracks the nation’s big business groups. The comparison dates were the two most recent periods when the KOSPI, the benchmark stock market index, went over 2,080 points.

The market value of the top 100 companies grew 3.7 percent to 996 trillion won during the three-year period, while the number of listed companies fell to 761 as 14 firms disappeared from the main bourse, data showed. (Yonhap)