South Korea’s exports grew by 25.8% year-on-year in 2021, the highest in 11 years

Author: Joori Roh

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s exports expanded at the fastest pace in 2021 in 1121, with a full export value backed by a post-pandemic recovery, backed by global demand for important national export items.

For the whole of 2021, South Korean exports grew by 25.8% from a year earlier to a record $ 644.54 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday, the fastest growth since 2010.

This was also the first increase in three years after shrinking by 5.5% and 10.4% in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Distributed by item, semiconductor exports rose 29% year-on-year to a record $ 128 billion, and petrochemical exports also rose 54.8% to a record $ 55.1 billion. Other items such as cars and steel also rose by 24.2% and 37%, respectively.

By destination, exports to China, South Korea’s largest trading partner, rose by 22.9%, while exports to the United States and the European Union rose by 29.4% and 33.9%, respectively.

Meanwhile, year-on-year imports rose 31.5% to a record $ 615.1 billion, rebounding from a 7.1% contraction in 2020.

On Saturday, exports also rose by 18.3% year-on-year in the last month of the year, extending their monthly growth for the 14th consecutive month, although the rate was slower than the 32% growth in November. A survey of 13 economists by Reuters expected a 22% increase.

Total exports totaled $ 60.7 trillion in December, the highest monthly figure of all time.

The 35.1% increase in semiconductor exports led to an increase in December, while overall exports to China and the United States also rose by 20.8% and 22.9%, respectively.