According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Korea’s exports continued to grow for three consecutive months amid changes in the trade landscape, led by the United States. Last month’s exports were the highest-ever for April. They increased by $370 million from the previous record of $57.84 billion in April 2022.
Imports in April were $53.32 billion, down 2.7% year-on-year. The trade balance thus recorded a surplus of $4.88 billion.
The export boom was led by semiconductors, the largest export item. Semiconductor exports recorded the highest-ever April performance, at $11.7 billion, as the fixed price of DRAM (DDR4 8Gb) rebounded for the first time in 12 months since April 2024, and high value-added memory exports such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) continued to boom. This is a 17.2% increase compared to the same month last year.
Wireless communication device exports also continued to increase for the third consecutive month, recording $1.5 billion, up 26.5%, led by smartphone exports ($400 million, +61.1%).
Bio-health exports increased 14.6% year-on-year to $1.4 billion. Bio-pharmaceutical exports ($900 million, +21.8%) increased significantly.
Steel exports turned positive for the first time in four months, increasing by 5.4% to $3 billion. Secondary battery exports also broke the 16-month negative trend since December 2023, increasing by 13.7% to $700 million. Ship exports also increased by 17.3% to $2 billion, increasing for two consecutive months.
On the other hand, automobile exports, one of the largest export items, decreased by 3.8%. However, the export volume ($6.5 billion) achieved the highest performance this year.
Agricultural, fishery, and food product exports achieved the highest-ever performance for all months, reaching $1.1 billion, thanks to the growing K-food craze.
By region, exports increased in seven out of the nine major markets.

Exports to China increased by 3.9% year-on-year to $10.9 billion. While semiconductor exports rebounded, after being in a negative trend this year, exports of wireless communication devices increased by double digits, leading to the overall increase in exports.

Exports to ASEAN increased by 4.5% to $9.4 billion, due to brisk exports of semiconductors and steels.
Exports to the EU achieved the highest-ever performance of $6.7 billion (+18.4%) in the entire period, with double-digit growth rates in automobile and bio-health exports.
Exports to the United States decreased by 6.8% year-on-year to $10.6 billion. Exports of petroleum products, secondary batteries, and wireless communication devices showed brisk growth, but exports of two major items, automobiles and general machinery, decreased.
Imports in April decreased by 2.7% to $53.32 billion. Energy imports amounted to $10 billion, down 20.1% year-on-year. Imports other than energy, including semiconductor equipment (+18.2%), increased by 2.4% to $43.4 billion.
Korea’s trade balance in April recorded a surplus of $4.88 billion, up $3.6 billion year-on-year. The cumulative trade balance from January to April this year was $12.2 billion, an increase of $2.3 billion over the same period of last year.

 
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