Korea: Merchandise exports increase in December
Latest reading: Merchandise exports increased 6.6% on an annual basis in December (November: +1.4% year-on-year), beating market expectations. Once again, IT exports—particularly semiconductors—were the key driver thanks to surging global AI demand. Meanwhile, merchandise imports increased 3.3% on an annual basis in December (November: -2.4% yoy).
As a result, the merchandise trade balance improved from the previous month, recording a USD 6.5 billion surplus in December (November 2024: USD 5.6 billion surplus; December 2023: USD 4.5 billion surplus). Lastly, the trend pointed up, with the 12-month trailing merchandise trade balance recording a USD 51.8 billion surplus in December, compared to the USD 49.7 billion surplus in November.
Panelist insight: On the outlook, ING’s Min Joo Kang said:
“We expect exports to remain a key growth driver for 2025, at least for the first half. Many are expressing concern about South Korea’s exports this year. We too expect export growth to slow down to 4.0% YoY in 2025 compared to last year (8.4%). However, we expect some of Korea’s strongest export categories to perform well despite rising trade tensions.”