"Export Plus and Trade Surplus in the First Half of This Year... Doing Our Best to Achieve 700 Billion Dollars" (Comprehensive)

Ministry of Industry, 2024 H1 and June Export-Import Trends
H1 Exports Up 9.1%·Trade Surplus $23.1 Billion
Exports Positive for 9 Consecutive Months…Trade Balance Surplus for 13 Months

Exports have recorded positive growth for nine consecutive months and maintained a trade surplus for 13 consecutive months. In the first half of this year, exports and trade surplus were both achieved simultaneously for the first time in three years since 2021. The government stated, "Exports are moving beyond recovery toward achieving the highest export performance ever," and decided to concentrate all available resources in the public-private one team to expand exports and sustain high growth in the second half of the year.

According to the '2024 First Half and June Export-Import Trends' announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 1st, export value in the first half reached $334.8 billion, a 9.1% increase compared to the previous year.

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Minister An Deok-geun of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy evaluated, "Exports of IT items such as semiconductors, which had been sluggish last year, and exports to China and ASEAN have rebounded significantly this year. Following last year, automobile exports and exports to the United States recorded the highest export performance ever in the first half of this year. In particular, the quarterly export growth rate has been continuously rising since the low point in the first quarter of last year, and the export value by half-year is also on an upward trend."

In the first half, exports of 9 out of the 15 major export items increased. Semiconductor exports, the largest export item, recorded $65.7 billion, a 52.2% increase from the previous year, achieving the second-highest performance ever for the first half, driven by rising memory prices and expanding demand from server-centered upstream industries. Automobiles, the second-largest export item, recorded $37.0 billion (3.8%), the highest export performance for the first half ever, supported by strong exports of hybrid vehicles (19.5%). Ship exports maintained the favorable trend continuing from last year, reaching $11.8 billion (28.0%) in the first half of this year.

Exports increased in 6 out of 9 major regions. Exports to the United States reached $64.3 billion (16.8%), the highest ever for the first half, marking the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking performance since 2021. Exports to China also contributed to the export increase with $63.4 billion, up 5.4% from the previous year.

Imports in the first half decreased by 6.5% to $311.7 billion. Energy imports saw a slight increase in crude oil imports ($44.0 billion, 3.9%), but gas (-27.9%) and coal (-23.5%) imports significantly decreased, resulting in an overall 10.0% decline. The trade balance recorded a surplus of $23.1 billion, the largest for the first half since 2018 ($31.1 billion surplus).

The export growth trend that began in October last year continued into last month. June exports amounted to $57.07 billion, a 5.1% increase from the previous year, marking nine consecutive months of positive growth. Especially, the daily average export value adjusted for working days reached $2.65 billion (12.4%), the highest this year and the largest in 21 months since September 2022 ($2.66 billion). Semiconductor exports recorded the highest ever at $13.42 billion (50.9%), maintaining positive growth for eight consecutive months. Display (26.1%) and computer (58.8%) exports increased for 11 and 6 consecutive months, respectively.

Imports last month decreased by 7.5% to $49.07 billion, and the trade surplus reached $8.0 billion, marking 13 consecutive months of surplus and the largest surplus in 45 months since September 2020 ($8.42 billion).

The government has set an annual export target of $700 billion this year, a 10.6% increase from last year. Although exports are showing favorable trends, the growth rate (9.1% in the first half) needs to be further increased to achieve the target. Choi Woo-seok, Director of Trade and Investment at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Korean exports tend to increase more in the second half of the year than in the first half on an annual basis. The daily average export value is about $2.5 billion, and the second half has about 4.5 more working days than the first half, which results in an effect of over $10 billion. Especially for IT products including semiconductors, both the first and second halves are expected to be strong, and the main markets for Korea, such as the United States, China, and ASEAN, are also expected to show steady growth, so the export conditions for Korea will be very favorable."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to hold a 'Public-Private Joint Export Expansion Strategy Meeting' this month to review export conditions for the second half. Regarding maritime logistics, which export companies have recently faced difficulties with, the ministry will support measures including ▲real-time monitoring of logistics situations such as ocean freight ▲temporary deployment of four additional vessels by national shipping companies ▲provision of dedicated shipping space for small and medium-sized enterprises ▲early execution of export voucher support (20.2 billion KRW in the second half).

Minister An said, "To ensure that exports continue to grow strongly in the second half, the government will intensively support export expansion by mobilizing all available resources as a public-private one team and proactively respond to risk factors. In particular, we will provide swift and thorough support to minimize the negative impact of maritime logistics difficulties on Korean companies."