Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Releases 2025 Annual and December Trade Trends
Last Year’s Exports Reach $709.7 Billion, Trade Surplus Hits $78 Billion
Record Highs for Semiconductors, Automobiles, K-Food, and Cosmetics
Last year, exports reached a record high of 709.7 billion dollars. This milestone, surpassing 700 billion dollars for the first time in history, was driven by strong performance in key export items such as semiconductors and automobiles, as well as an increase in promising exports like agricultural, fisheries, and food products, and cosmetics.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 1 that exports in 2025 reached 709.7 billion dollars, an increase of 3.8% compared to the previous year. Average daily exports also hit an all-time high, rising by 4.6% to 2.64 billion dollars.
Export vehicles are waiting to be loaded at Pyeongtaek Port, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
Last year, imports of non-energy items such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased, but energy imports decreased due to falling oil prices, resulting in a flat trend at 631.7 billion dollars, down 0.02%. The trade balance maintained a surplus for 11 consecutive months, improving by 26.2 billion dollars year-on-year to reach a surplus of 78 billion dollars-the largest since the 95.2 billion dollar surplus in 2017.
An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "In 2025, Korea's exports continued to show strength in core items such as semiconductors, automobiles, and ships, while electric machinery, agricultural and fisheries products, and cosmetics achieved record-high performances, establishing themselves as new growth engines." The official added, "Export destinations also diversified, with the proportion of exports to the United States and China decreasing, while exports to regions such as ASEAN, Central and South America, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased."
In 2025, exports increased in a total of six out of the 15 major export items. In addition to the top five items, exports of promising goods such as electric machinery, agricultural and fisheries products, and cosmetics also rose.
◆ Korea's Two Major Exports-Semiconductors and Automobiles Reach Record Highs = Semiconductor exports, Korea's top export item, reached an all-time high of 173.4 billion dollars (up 22.2%), driven by steady demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and a sharp rise in fixed prices for memory semiconductors. Notably, from April, the monthly record was broken for nine consecutive months.
Visitors are viewing related exhibits at the "2025 Semiconductor Expo" held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon
Automobile exports reached a record high of 72 billion dollars (up 1.7%). Although exports to the United States, the largest market, declined due to tariffs, exports to the European Union and CIS increased thanks to strong demand for hybrid and used cars.
Biohealth exports increased by 7.9% to 16.3 billion dollars, continuing a positive trend for the second consecutive year. Ship exports (32 billion dollars, up 24.9%), computers (13.8 billion dollars, up 4.5%), and wireless communication devices (17.3 billion dollars, up 0.4%) also performed strongly.
Furthermore, exports outside the 15 major items grew by 5.5% to 157.4 billion dollars, setting a new record and driving diversification of export items. In particular, the growing popularity of K-Food and K-Beauty led to record-high exports of agricultural, fisheries, and food products, as well as cosmetics. Rising electricity demand also resulted in record-high exports of electric machinery.
Petroleum product exports declined due to lower unit prices caused by falling oil prices, while petrochemical and steel exports continued to decrease due to global oversupply and resulting price drops.
◆ Exports to the US and China Decrease... ASEAN Exports Up 7.4% = In 2025, exports increased in six out of the nine major export markets. In China, the largest export market, semiconductor exports-the top item-performed well, but exports of petrochemicals, wireless communication devices, and general machinery declined, resulting in a 1.7% decrease to 130.8 billion dollars.
Exports to the United States fell by 3.8% to 122.9 billion dollars, as many items including automobiles, general machinery, and auto parts declined due to tariffs. However, semiconductor exports posted double-digit growth, partially offsetting the decline. The trade surplus with the United States stood at 49.5 billion dollars, down 6.1 billion dollars from 2024.
Exports to ASEAN rose by 7.4% to 122.5 billion dollars, led by semiconductors, the region’s largest export item. The share of exports to ASEAN increased from 16.7% in 2024 to 17.3% in 2025. Exports to the European Union (70.1 billion dollars, up 3.0%) also reached a new record, with automobiles and ships performing strongly and general machinery and semiconductors showing balanced growth.
In December last year, exports rose by 13.4% year-on-year to 69.6 billion dollars. This marked the highest monthly figure ever, with records being broken for seven consecutive months. Average daily exports also hit a December record at 2.9 billion dollars, up 8.7%.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeonggwan stated, "This achievement, made under challenging domestic and global conditions, is an indicator of our economy's solid resilience and growth potential." He added, "We will stably provide a record 275 trillion won in trade insurance and fully resolve export field challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises-including marketing, logistics, and certification-to achieve over 700 billion dollars in exports for a second consecutive year and surpass last year's record, focusing all our capabilities."
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