According to the ‘October Export and Import Trends in 2025,’ released by Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), exports in October reached $59.57 billion, a 3.6% increase year-on-year. This marks the highest October export performance ever.
Notably, despite a significant decrease in operating days due to the Chuseok holidays, exports continued to increase for five consecutive months. The trade balance also recorded a surplus of $6.06 billion.
By product, exports of four of the 15 major export items increased in October. Semiconductor exports increased significantly by 25.4% to $15.73 billion, marking the eighth consecutive month of growth and the highest-ever October performance. This growth was driven by strong demand for high-capacity, high-value-added memory, such as server-focused HBM and DDR5, which led to rising memory contract prices. Computer exports also rose by 1.7% to $980 million, ending a three-month decline and turning positive.

Ship exports, including offshore plants ($2.47 billion), recorded massive triple-digit growth (+131.2%), marking the eighth consecutive month of growth.
Petroleum product exports rose by 12.7% to $3.83 billion, marking the second consecutive month of growth, driven by year-on-year increases in export volume amidst exports of petroleum products remain flat in international product prices.
Overall, exports decreased for most of the 15 major items, as well as other items, due to the extended holiday period at the beginning of the month. In particular, the exports of automobiles, auto parts, steel, general machinery, and home appliances, which are being heavily impacted by U.S. tariffs, showed a relatively high decline.

By region, exports increased to two of Korea’s nine major export regions in October. Exports to the United States decreased by 16.2% to $8.71 billion — the only region to record a double-digit decline among nine major regions — as key items such as automobiles, auto parts, steel, and general machinery weakened due to the tariffs.
Exports to China decreased slightly to $11.55 billion (-5.1%), remaining above $11 billion for the second consecutive month. Exports to ASEAN decreased by 6.5% to $9.4 billion, as most items, excluding semiconductors, declined due to fewer working days.

 Exports to Central and South America surged by 99.0% to $4.71 billion, driven by exports of large-scale offshore plants, breaking the previous record (previously $4.22 billion in June 2010). Exports to the CIS increased by 34.4% to $1.34 billion, marking the eighth consecutive month of growth.
Meanwhile, exports to the EU ($5.19 billion, -2.0%), India ($1.49 billion, -1.2%), and the Middle East ($1.5 billion, -1.3%) remained flat year-on-year. Outside the nine major regions, exports to Taiwan reached $5.15 billion (+46.0%), the highest level in October, driven by the continued strong semiconductor market, particularly in HBM.

 
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