South Korea’s exports reached a record $683.8 billion in 2024, surpassing the previous high of $683.6 billion set in 2022, the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 1st.
Daily exports reached $2.53 billion, up 8.2 percent from the record $2.51 billion in 2022.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), South Korea moved up two places in the global export rankings from January to September 2024 to rank 6th. Among the top 10 exporters, South Korea recorded the highest export growth rate (+9.6%).
Imports totaled $632 billion in 2024, down 1.6 percent from the previous year, mainly due to lower energy imports. The trade surplus of $51.8 billion is the largest since 2018 ($69.7 billion).
Korea’s exports in key sectors such as semiconductors, ships, automobiles, and consumer goods such as bio-health, agricultural products and cosmetics are said to be growing strongly.
Ship exports grew by 18 percent to $25.6 billion as owners ordered high-value vessels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and large container ships to begin deliveries in 2021.
The biggest export was semiconductors, soaring 43.9 percent to $141.9 billion, surpassing the record $129.2 billion set in 2022. Automobile exports amounted to $70.8 billion, unchanged from 2023. Petrochemical exports rose 5 percent to $48 billion. Pharmaceutical exports increased 13.1% to $15.1 billion. Agricultural and seafood exports $11.7 billion. Cosmetics exports of $10.2 billion.