Export Share of GDP Reaches 36.3%,
Highest Since the 2020s Began
Exports Induce 4.16 Million Jobs,
Accounting for 14.6% of Total Employment
Among South Korea's economic growth rate of 2.04% recorded last year, the contribution of exports was 1.93 percentage points (p). Exports significantly contributed to production, value added, and employment inducement, playing the role of the engine for the country's overall economic growth.
Behind the containers piled up at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi-do, export cars are parked. Photo by Yonhap News
The Korea International Trade Association's International Trade and Commerce Research Institute announced this in the results of the "2024 Analysis of the Contribution Effect of Exports on the National Economy" released on the 9th.
According to the report, the export contribution of 1.93%p out of last year's 2.04% economic growth rate was the highest in the past five years. Last year's total export performance reached $683.8 billion, marking an all-time high, and the trade balance recorded a surplus of $51.8 billion.
The share of exports in the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 36.3%, the highest since the 2020s began. Last year, the production inducement amount from South Korea's exports was estimated at $1.3012 trillion, a 6.9% increase from the previous year, which is analyzed as the highest since the 2020s. The production inducement amount refers to the total production value generated, including direct production and related industries. Among these, the recovery of exports in automobiles and semiconductors significantly contributed to the increase in production inducement amount.
Based on the production inducement amount, the export production inducement coefficient was slightly down to 1.90 from 1.93 last year. By item, the production inducement amount of exports last year showed automobiles at $236.5 billion as the top, followed by semiconductors at $185.4 billion (2nd), and general machinery at $77.1 billion (3rd). The value-added rate, which indicates the degree to which total exports create domestic value added, was 56.3%, up 0.9%p compared to 2023. By item, the value-added inducement amount was highest in semiconductors at $78.9 billion, followed by automobiles ($57.9 billion) and general-purpose machinery ($22.5 billion).
The number of jobs induced by exports in 2024 totaled 4.16 million, accounting for 14.6% of South Korea's total employment of 28.58 million. This means that 6.1 jobs are created per $1 million of exports. By item, the automobile industry, which has a large forward and backward chain effect, induced the highest employment with 695,000 jobs. This was followed by semiconductors (346,000 jobs), general-purpose machinery (292,000 jobs), and shipbuilding (229,000 jobs).
Seok-kyung Yoo, senior researcher at the Korea International Trade Association, stated, "The high contribution of exports to economic growth suggests that the Korean economy must continuously pursue an export-led growth strategy." She added, "To expand the economic ripple effects of exports, efforts are needed to secure long-term competitiveness through diversification of export items, develop high value-added products, expand small and medium-sized enterprises' participation in the global value chain, and strengthen the industrial ecosystem."
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