The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 1 that Korea’s exports in 2022 hit USD 683.9 billion, a 6.1 percent increase over the previous year.
Annual imports increased 18.9 percent to $731.2 billion. Annual trade amounts to $1.4 trillion (up 12.4 percent) and the trade balance stands at a deficit of $47.2 billion.
Despite the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s zero-COVID lockdowns and other uncertainties, Korea’s exports hit historic highs, although major countries’ interest rate hikes and overall global economic downturn have been slowing the pace down substantially since October.
Daily exports average also entered the $2.5 billion thresholds for the first time. Korea ranks among the top 6 trade countries worldwide in 2022, and total trade volume reached $1 trillion within the shortest space of time (on September 13) in history.
Although the 15 major export items posted very high growth rates in 2021 and created a high base effect for 2022, shipments of eight core export items like semiconductors and automobiles advanced for the second consecutive year.
Semiconductors (up 1.0 percent to $129.2 billion) broke records again in spite of the price drop in the second-half of 2022. Automobiles (up 16.4 percent to $54.1 billion) have been posting high growth rates since July, thanks to improved auto chip supply and rising eco-friendly car demand. Petroleum products (up 65.3 percent to $63.0 billion) are continuing their growth streak on the backs of high oil prices and are second largest in terms of exports value.
Secondary batteries (up 15.2 percent to $10.0 billion) posted double-digit growth due to eco-friendly policies of developed nations. System chips (up 27.5 percent to $50.7 billion), EVs (up 40.6 percent to $9.8 billion) and agricultural and fisheries products (up 3.5 percent to $10.6 billion) have gained fresh attention as promising items.
With respect to share within Korea’s top export items, system chips (31.1 percent to 39.2 percent), EVs (15.0 percent to 18.2 percent) and OLED panels (67.9 percent to 72.4 percent) all expanded in 2022, indicating the high value-added trends in Korea’s trade.
By region, exports to the ASEAN (up 14.8 percent to $125.0 billion), U.S. (up 14.5 percent to $109.8 billion) and EU (up 7.1 percent to $68.1 billion) reached all-time highs while those to China (down 4.4 percent to $155.8 billion) faltered. Among emerging markets, exports to India (up 21.0 percent to $18.9 billion) saw record-breaking figures as demand for steel, semiconductors and wireless communications devices led the steep climb.
Exports to Japan (up 1.9 percent to $30.6 billion), Latin America (up 3.0 percent to $26.6 billion) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (up 12.3 percent to $17.5 billion) also increased, but those to the CIS region dropped 17.7 percent to $11.3 billion.
For the month of December 2022, Korea’s exports and imports saw a year-on-year decline of 9.5 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, to $55.0 billion and $59.7 billion. The monthly trade balance stood at a deficit of $4.7 billion.
Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy