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Exports rise, but polarization and major firm reliance grow

Published: 10 Feb. 2026, 18:26 Updated: 10 Feb. 2026, 18:36

Jeong Gyu-seung, head of the Industry Statistics Division at the Ministry of Data and Statistics, speaks during a press briefing at the government complex in Sejong on Feb. 10. [NEWS1]

Exports hit a record high last year despite tariff shocks from the United States, but the share accounted for by the top 10 companies approached 40 percent, underscoring deepening polarization and growing reliance on exports by major firms, new data showed Tuesday.

Exports in the fourth quarter of last year totaled $189.8 billion, up 8.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the annual trade statistics by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Tuesday.

That marked the largest quarterly export value on record. Driven by semi-conductors, annual exports rose 3.8 percent on year to $709.4 billion. It was the first time outbound shipments surpassed $700 billion.

Last year, the trade concentration ratio of the top 10 exporters — including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor — rose 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 39.0 percent.

The figure refers to the share of total exports accounted for by those companies. It has increased for two consecutive years starting in 2024, reaching the highest level since statistics were first compiled in 2010.

Looking at the fourth quarter alone, the trade concentration ratio surged to 43.4 percent. The concentration trend persisted even when expanded to the top 100 companies. The top 100 exporters accounted for 67.1 percent of annual exports, up 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest level since 2014. That means the top 100 companies made up two-thirds of total exports.

Containers ready for export are piled up at a port in Incheon on Feb. 1. [NEWS1]

“The strong semiconductor market raised concentration among top companies,” said Jeong Gyu-seung, head of the Industry Statistics Division at the Data Ministry. “The global boom in AI and expanding data center investments have fueled a semiconductor supercycle.”

The growing semiconductor skew was also evident in exports by industry. On an annual basis, manufacturing exports increased 5.1 percent from a year earlier to $610.1 billion.

Of that total, electrical and electronics exports, which include semiconductors, jumped 12.5 percent to $317.1 billion, accounting for more than half. By contrast, exports declined in petrochemicals, down 8.0 percent, and textiles and apparel, down 8.8 percent.

Exports of raw materials and consumer goods fell, while capital goods exports rose 10 percent from the previous year. Within capital goods, machinery exports declined, but exports of information technology components, including semiconductors, surged 19.9 percent on year to $191.2 billion.

Consumer goods exports slipped 2.4 percent, largely due to a 5.7 percent drop in durable consumer goods exports, which include automobiles.

An aerial view of SK hynix's M16 semiconductor plant in Icheon, Gyeonggi [SK HYNIX]

“This decline reflected factors such as cuts to electric vehicle subsidies in the United States,” Jeong said.

By company size, exports by large companies totaled $468.8 billion, while midsize companies recorded $125.2 billion and small companies $113.5 billion. That represented year-on-year increases of 3.4 percent, 2.0 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.

By workforce size, exports by companies with 250 or more employees and those with one to nine employees increased 5.1 percent and 19.2 percent, respectively, while exports by companies with 10 to 249 employees fell 7.7 percent.

By region, exports to Southeast Asia rose 19.4 percent and those to Central and South America jumped 32.2 percent, showing strong growth in emerging markets. Exports to the United States fell 3.8 percent and exports to Japan declined 7.6 percent.

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 JANG WON-SEOK [[email protected]]