Korea’s Exports Last Year Totaled $683.8 Billion, the Highest Ever

Last year’s Korean exports broke an all-time record. Semiconductor exports recorded the highest ever, leading overall exports. Last December’s exports also increased by 6.6%, continuing the 15th consecutive month of positive growth.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) recently released that the nation’s exports in 2024 were tallied at $683.8 billion, up 8.2% from the previous year.
Imports decreased by 1.6% from the previous year to $642.67 billion. The trade balance thus recorded a surplus of $51.8 billion.
Annual exports surpassed the previous record of $683.6 billion achieved in 2022. Daily average exports ($2.53 billion) also surpassed the previous record of $2.51 billion.

MOTIE analyzed that the improved export performance is attributable to the fact that IT items such as semiconductors and consumer goods showed favorable trends evenly in a situation where international oil prices stabilized downward.
Exports of a total of eight out of the 15 major export items increased. Semiconductor exports increased 43.9% year-on-year to $141.9 billion, breaking the previous record of $129.2 billion in 2022.
It is evaluated that the semiconductor exports expanded centered on high value-added items such as DDR5 and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), despite the decline in general memory prices in the fourth quarter of last year, and showed an upward trend toward the end of the year.
Shipbuilding showed an increase of 17.6%, petrochemicals 5.0%, and biohealth 13.1%.
Automobiles recorded $70.8 billion in export sales, a 0.1% decrease year-on-year due to some production disruptions caused by strikes in major automakers and parts companies in the second half of the year, but exceeded $70 billion for the second consecutive year.
Among the nine major export markets, exports to seven regions, including the USA, China, and ASEAN, increased. Exports to the USA increased by 10.5% to $127.8 billion, while exports to China increased by 6.6% to $133 billion. In particular, exports to the USA broke the record for the seventh consecutive year.
December’s exports increased by 6.6% year-on-year to $61.38 billion, while imports during the same period increased by 3.3% to $54.89 billion.
As exports continued to increase for 15 consecutive months, the trade balance recorded a surplus of $6.49 billion, continuing a surplus trend for 19 consecutive months.

  
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