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Sales of companies in Korea increased at a slower pace in the third quarter, affected in part by a global economic slowdown, central bank data showed Thursday.

Combined sales of 3,907 corporations subject to external auditing grew 17.5 percent on-year in the July-September period, slowing from the second quarter's 20.5 percent rise, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The BOK said their total sales increased thanks to higher product prices but the slower pace of growth than three months earlier was due in part to less demand caused by a global economic slowdown.

Manufacturers saw their sales up 18.2 percent on-year, which slowed from the previous quarter's 22.2 percent rise. The figure for non-manufacturers also fell from 18.2 percent to 16.7 percent.

Rising raw material prices dented their profitability.

Those firms' operating profit margin stood at 4.8 percent in the third quarter, down 7.5 percent tallied a year earlier, the data showed.

The margin for manufacturers and non-manufacturers stood at 5.4 percent and 4 percent, down from 9.6 percent and 5.1 percent a year earlier.

Rising borrowing costs driven by the central bank's aggressive monetary tightening to tackle inflation have also pushed up their debt levels.

The data showed that their debt ratios stood at 92.6 percent in the third quarter, up from 91.2 percent tallied three months earlier.

The ratio of their borrowings, including bonds payable to total assets also rose over the same period from 24.5 percent to 25.2 percent. (Yonhap)