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Late-year recovery in chip, car shipments drives Korea's exports past $700 billion for first time ever

Published: 29 Dec. 2025, 18:59 Updated: 29 Dec. 2025, 19:39

Export-bound containers are stacked at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi on Dec. 29. [NEWS1]

Korea’s annual exports crossed the $700 billion mark for the first time on Monday, buoyed by a late-year rebound in chip and automobile shipments that helped offset earlier headwinds from U.S. tariffs and broader protectionism.

Cumulative exports topped $700 billion as of 1:03 p.m. on Monday, according to provisional data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the Korea Customs Service. The milestone came 77 years after Korea began exporting in 1948 and seven years after it first surpassed $600 billion in 2018.

Korea was the seventh country to reach $600 billion in annual exports, but became the sixth to surpass $700 billion. Only five countries had previously recorded annual exports of $700 billion: the United States in 2000, Germany in 2003, China in 2005, Japan in 2007 and the Netherlands in 2018.

Exports struggled in the first half of the year. Shipments from January to June edged down 0.03 percent from a year earlier as U.S. tariffs and a broader shift toward protectionism weighed on trade.

Momentum improved after Korea concluded trade negotiations with Washington, easing uncertainty for companies, while stronger demand for semiconductors and automobiles lifted exports from June onward. Monthly shipments hit record highs for six consecutive months through November.

Chips led the recovery, with exports totaling $152.6 billion in the January–November period, up 19.8 percent from a year earlier. Demand rose on the back of global investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, which boosted prices for dynamic random access memory and NAND memory chips. A growing share of high value-added products, such as high bandwidth memory, also supported export growth.

Automobile exports reached $66 billion, up 2 percent from a year earlier, while ship exports climbed 28.6 percent to $29 billion. Biotech products rose 6.5 percent to $14.7 billion. Agricultural and fisheries products posted exports of $11.3 billion and cosmetics reached $10.4 billion, while electronic devices totaled $15.1 billion, emerging as additional growth drivers.

Export-bound cars are lined up at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi on Dec. 29. [YONHAP]

Korea also broadened its export markets, government data showed. The share of exports to China fell to 18.4 percent from 19.5 percent a year earlier, while the U.S. share declined to 17.3 percent from 18.6 percent. In contrast, exports to member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations rose to 17.2 percent from 16.7 percent, while exports to the European Union edged up to 10.1 percent and to Latin America to 4.5 percent.

Foreign direct investment exceeded $35 billion for the year despite weaker inflows in the first half, surpassing the previous record of $34.57 billion set last year.

“Efforts to attract investment around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting, along with policies backing industries such as AI and semiconductors, helped boost inflows,” a government official said, referring to the economic forum held in November in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang.

“This year’s foreign investment is particularly meaningful because a large share came from greenfield projects that create jobs and are considered high-quality investments,” the official said.

Officials cautioned, however, that heavy reliance on semiconductors remains a challenge. Excluding chips, Korea’s exports fell 1.5 percent from a year earlier through November. Of 15 major export items, 10 posted declines when semiconductors and four other products were excluded, with traditional sectors such as machinery, petrochemicals, steel and secondary batteries under pressure.

“The government will work to strengthen core industrial competitiveness through manufacturing innovation and changes to the trade structure to secure a second straight year of $700 billion in exports,” a government official said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY NAM SOO-HYOUN [[email protected]]