Gyeonggi-do May Export Performance Hits $11 Billion... Largest Increase in 4 Years

Strong Exports in Key Markets, New Southern and New Northern Regions
Simultaneous Growth in Core Items Such as Semiconductors and Automobiles

Stock photo (Samsung Electronics LPDDR5 uMCP) [Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Youngcheol] In May, Gyeonggi Province's total export performance recorded $11 billion, a 29% increase compared to the same period last year, driven by nine consecutive months of growth.

This accounts for about 22% of the nation's total exports of approximately $50.8 billion in May, marking the largest increase in four years since May 2017.

Additionally, it is the highest export performance for May in the province's history since 2018, and the cumulative export amount from January to May exceeded $53.6 billion, surpassing $50 billion for the first time since 2018.

According to the province on the 24th, semiconductors and automobiles led the overall export performance in May. Semiconductors recorded $3.65 billion, the highest monthly export amount since 2018, continuing a 13-month growth trend.

This is attributed to strong laptop sales driven by demand in the non-face-to-face economy, expansion of 5G mobile demand, and rising fixed prices of memory.

Strong sales in major markets such as the United States and the EU, along with exports of eco-friendly vehicles, led automobile and automobile parts exports to increase by 125% and 158% respectively compared to the same period last year, maintaining double-digit growth for six consecutive months.

By country, exports to major regions including China, the United States, ASEAN, and the EU increased for six consecutive months from December last year to May, with new southern markets like ASEAN and new northern markets such as the CIS also showing favorable trends.

Exports from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the province also maintained an upward trend for six consecutive months as of April this year, recording $3.1 billion, a 21% increase compared to the same period last year.

Notably, although automobile parts among Gyeonggi Province's top 10 major export items such as memory semiconductors and information and communication devices declined last year, this year all items except for two categories including machinery showed export growth.

Exports of COVID-19 related products such as soap, toothpaste, and cosmetics increased by 56%, showing strong performance. The number of exporting SMEs also increased by 2.4% compared to the previous year, reaching about 32,000 as of the end of 2020.

Ryu Gwang-yeol, Director of the Economic Office, said, "We were able to achieve export growth through a rapid transition to a non-face-to-face and online export support system," adding, "We will strive to expand SME exports through various export support measures to ensure the export growth trend continues."