Imports to South Korea expanded 37.4 percent year-on-year to USD 61.32 billion in December 2021, beating market expectations of 35.8 percent and following a 43.6 percent jump a month earlier, a preliminary release showed. This marked the eleventh straight month of double-digit growth in purchases, lifted by solid domestic demand ahead of New Year holidays following an acceleration in COVID-19 vaccinations. For the whole year, inbound shipments climbed 31.5 percent to a record US$615.1 billion, recovering from a 7.1 percent fall in 2020. source: Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE)

Imports YoY in South Korea averaged 15.63 percent from 1967 until 2021, reaching an all time high of 115.60 percent in February of 1974 and a record low of -43.90 percent in July of 1998. This page includes a chart with historical data for South Korea Imports YoY. South Korea Imports YoY - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on January of 2022.

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South Korea Imports YoY


South Korea Imports YoY
In 2019 imports to South Korea dropped 6 percent to USD 503.2 billion from the previous year's all-time high, as domestic production and facility investment dwindled. Main imports were mineral fuels, mineral oils, bituminous substances (25 percent of total imports), electrical machinery and equipment (18 percent), nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical (10 percent), optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring (4 percent), road vehicles (3 percent), iron and steel (3 percent), ores, slag, ash (3 percent), organic chemicals (3 percent), plastics and articles thereof (2 percent), miscellaneous chemicals products (2 percent), and inorganic chemicals, compounds of precious metals (2 percent). China was the biggest source of imports (21 percent of total imports), followed by the US (12 percent), Japan (9 percent), Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Australia and Germany (4 percent each), Taiwan, Russia and Qatar (3 percent each), and Kuwait, Malaysia, the UAE and Indonesia (2 percent each).
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
37.40 43.60 115.60 -43.90 1967 - 2021 percent Monthly

Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2021-12-01 12:00 AM Nov 43.6% 37.7% 40.5%
2022-01-01 12:00 AM Dec 37.4% 43.6% 35.8%
2022-02-01 12:00 AM Jan 37.4% 32.8%


News Stream
South Korea Imports Rise More than Expected
Imports to South Korea expanded 37.4 percent year-on-year to USD 61.32 billion in December 2021, beating market expectations of 35.8 percent and following a 43.6 percent jump a month earlier, a preliminary release showed. This marked the eleventh straight month of double-digit growth in purchases, lifted by solid domestic demand ahead of New Year holidays following an acceleration in COVID-19 vaccinations. For the whole year, inbound shipments climbed 31.5 percent to a record US$615.1 billion, recovering from a 7.1 percent fall in 2020.
2022-01-01
South Korea Imports Rise More than Estimated
Imports to South Korea jumped 43.6 percent year-on-year to USD 57.36 billion in November 2021, beating market expectations of 40.5 percent and following a 37.7 percent advance a month earlier, boosted by solid domestic demand following an acceleration in COVID-19 vaccinations.
2021-12-01
South Korea Imports Hit New Peak
Imports to South Korea jumped 37.8 percent year-on-year to a fresh record high of USD 53.86 billion in October 2021, compared with market expectations of 40.1 percent and following a 31.0 percent advance a month earlier, boosted by solid domestic demand following an acceleration in COVID-19 vaccinations.
2021-11-01

South Korea Imports by Country Last Previous
China 13827000.00 13662000.00 USD THO Dec/21
European Union 6700000.00 5059000.00 USD THO Dec/21
United States 5702000.00 6627000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Japan 5336000.00 4863000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Australia 3831544.00 3484625.00 USD THO Dec/21
Saudi Arabia 3327385.00 2565607.00 USD THO Dec/21
Taiwan 2186940.00 2193440.00 USD THO Dec/21
Germany 2157847.00 1623622.00 USD THO Dec/21
Russia 2023671.00 2312182.00 USD THO Dec/21
Qatar 1410117.00 1099157.00 USD THO Dec/21
Indonesia 1299015.00 926791.00 USD THO Dec/21
Malaysia 1144017.00 847760.00 USD THO Dec/21
Netherlands 1099111.00 553981.00 USD THO Dec/21
Kuwait 1025761.00 791693.00 USD THO Dec/21
Singapore 902186.00 764789.00 USD THO Dec/21
Mexico 828853.00 674809.00 USD THO Dec/21
India 744000.00 793000.00 USD THO Dec/21
United Arab Emirates 724653.00 703149.00 USD THO Dec/21
United Kingdom 640065.00 383212.00 USD THO Dec/21
Thailand 627974.00 594099.00 USD THO Dec/21
Italy 624229.00 684263.00 USD THO Dec/21
Brazil 622373.00 565228.00 USD THO Dec/21
Belgium 612217.00 265342.00 USD THO Dec/21
France 607298.00 564708.00 USD THO Dec/21
Canada 438225.00 640140.00 USD THO Dec/21
Chile 428214.00 387752.00 USD THO Dec/21
Switzerland 362022.00 263073.00 USD THO Dec/21
Oman 346608.00 205864.00 USD THO Dec/21
Philippines 326618.00 428691.00 USD THO Dec/21
Argentina 305618.00 342793.00 USD THO Dec/21
Hong Kong 269965.00 127463.00 USD THO Dec/21
Norway 249212.00 244487.00 USD THO Dec/21
South Africa 246316.00 375492.00 USD THO Dec/21
Spain 212686.00 195160.00 USD THO Dec/21
Sweden 208672.00 195194.00 USD THO Dec/21
Austria 181956.00 177458.00 USD THO Dec/21
Israel 142575.00 135427.00 USD THO Dec/21
Greece 133919.00 101147.00 USD THO Dec/21
New Zealand 131667.00 140931.00 USD THO Dec/21
Turkey 130512.00 114515.00 USD THO Dec/21
Ireland 128635.00 111070.00 USD THO Dec/21
Denmark 107575.00 77088.00 USD THO Dec/21
Bahrain 105029.00 157414.00 USD THO Dec/21
Czech Republic 99850.00 78803.00 USD THO Dec/21
Ecuador 97720.00 9927.00 USD THO Dec/21
Finland 93016.00 54200.00 USD THO Dec/21
Poland 88685.00 70433.00 USD THO Dec/21
Ukraine 80732.00 48909.00 USD THO Dec/21
Pakistan 73569.00 32520.00 USD THO Dec/21
Hungary 59887.00 59768.00 USD THO Dec/21
Bangladesh 53246.00 49390.00 USD THO Dec/21
Panama 48485.00 51803.00 USD THO Dec/21
Nigeria 42355.00 118761.00 USD THO Dec/21
Colombia 38267.00 121198.00 USD THO Dec/21
Portugal 37284.00 32992.00 USD THO Dec/21
Jordan 14436.00 10092.00 USD THO Dec/21
Egypt 11820.00 102754.00 USD THO Dec/21
Guatemala 8940.00 9109.00 USD THO Dec/21
Papua New Guinea 4627.00 159859.00 USD THO Dec/21
Venezuela 634.00 2674.00 USD THO Dec/21
Uzbekistan 630.00 2688.00 USD THO Dec/21
Iran 435.00 879.00 USD THO Dec/21
South Korea Imports by Category Last Previous
Crude Materials & Fuels 31757000.00 29093000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Capital Goods 20338000.00 19423000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Crude Materials & Fuels - Fuel 15769000.00 14539000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Consumer Goods 9088000.00 8835000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Crude Petroleum 7089000.00 6619000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Semi-conductor 6583000.00 6261000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Chemicals 6063000.00 5349000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Consumer Goods - Durable Consumer Goods 3839000.00 3501000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Crude Materials & Fuels - Minerals 3274000.00 2891000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Information & Communication Equipment 3074000.00 3027000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Capital Goods - Transport Equipment 1019000.00 1294000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Consumer Goods - Cereals 896000.00 805000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Crude Materials & Fuels - Textile 430000.00 417000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Consumer Goods - Durable Cons Goodsgold 349000.00 161000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Crude Materials & Fuels - Oilpaper 180000.00 195000.00 USD THO Dec/21
Domestic Use 40826.00 38469.00 USD Million Dec/21
Capital Goods - Domestic Use 13068.00 12496.00 USD Million Dec/21
Consumer Goods - Domestic Use 8684.00 8366.00 USD Million Dec/21
Fuels - Use 8343.00 7589.00 USD Million Dec/21
Fuels - Domestic Use 7426.00 6951.00 USD Million Dec/21
Capital Goods - Use 7271.00 6926.00 USD Million Dec/21
Semi-conductor - Use 5140.00 4787.00 USD Million Dec/21
Chemicals - Domestic Use 4164.00 3697.00 USD Million Dec/21
Consumer Durable Goods - Domestic Use 3538.00 3155.00 USD Million Dec/21
Mineral - Domestic Use 2371.00 2187.00 USD Million Dec/21
Consumer Nondurable Goods - Domestic U 1933.00 2115.00 USD Million Dec/21
Chemicals - Use 1899.00 1651.00 USD Million Dec/21
Semi-conductor - Domestic Use 1443.00 1474.00 USD Million Dec/21
Non-ferrous Metal - Domestic Use 1415.00 1164.00 USD Million Dec/21
Iron & Steel Products - Domestic Use 1393.00 1351.00 USD Million Dec/21
Passenger Car - Domestic Use 1079.00 886.00 USD Million Dec/21
Mineral - Use 904.00 704.00 USD Million Dec/21
Cereals - Domestic Use 895.00 803.00 USD Million Dec/21
Clothing - Domestic Use 871.00 1078.00 USD Million Dec/21
Transport Equipment - Domestic Use 828.00 1148.00 USD Million Dec/21
Light Industry Input - Domestic Use 581.00 539.00 USD Million Dec/21
Iron & Steel Products - Use 546.00 556.00 USD Million Dec/21
Electric Home Appliances - Domestic Use 525.00 615.00 USD Million Dec/21
Non-ferrous Metal - Use 439.00 440.00 USD Million Dec/21
Consumer Goods - Use 403.00 469.00 USD Million Dec/21
Consumer Durable Goods - Use 301.00 347.00 USD Million Dec/21
Textile - Domestic Use 284.00 275.00 USD Million Dec/21
Gold - Domestic Use 258.00 93.00 USD Million Dec/21
Transport Equipment - Use 192.00 145.00 USD Million Dec/21
Oilpaper - Domestic Use 171.00 190.00 USD Million Dec/21
Light Industry Input - Use 165.00 155.00 USD Million Dec/21
Textile - Use 146.00 142.00 USD Million Dec/21
Beverages - Domestic Use 136.00 129.00 USD Million Dec/21
Gold - Use 91.00 69.00 USD Million Dec/21
Electric Home Appliances - Exports of 61.00 60.00 USD Million Dec/21
Golf Accessories - Domestic Use 60.00 54.00 USD Million Dec/21
Tobacco - Domestic Use 30.00 28.00 USD Million Dec/21
Consumer Nondurable Goods - Exports of 25.00 21.00 USD Million Dec/21
Passenger Car - Use 20.00 97.00 USD Million Dec/21
Oilpaper - Use 9.00 5.00 USD Million Dec/21
Clothing - Use 3.00 3.00 USD Million Dec/21
Tobacco - Use 3.00 6.00 USD Million Dec/21

United Nations Comtrade Database
Exports by Country  |   Exports by Category  |   Imports by Country  |   Imports by Category