Changwon Special City: Changwon Economy Holds Up Despite Domestic and Global Uncertainties Last Year

Changwon National Industrial Complex posts 60.9 trillion won in production
Changwon-area exports also maintain upward trend at 22.6 billion dollars

Changwon Special City in South Gyeongsang Province announced on the 26th that, despite uncertainties in domestic and international conditions last year, the Changwon economy appears to have held up relatively well.

According to recently released statistical data from the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, production at the Changwon National Industrial Complex reached 60.9643 trillion won last year. After hitting its lowest point of 39 trillion won in the 2010s in 2019, the complex’s production has been gradually recovering, surpassing 60 trillion won last year.

View of the Changwon National Industrial Complex from Bulmosan in Changwon.

Exports also showed a similar upward trend to production, totaling 17.369 billion dollars. The number of tenant companies reached 3,292, the highest level since 24 companies first moved into the complex in 1974, and employment stood at 119,947 people.

Among the 40 national industrial complexes nationwide, the Changwon National Industrial Complex ranked fourth in production, fifth in both exports and number of tenant companies, and second in number of employees.

In particular, the share of the complex’s main industries in total production across all national industrial complexes was the highest in machinery (about 28%), and second highest in both electrical and electronics (about 14%) and transportation equipment (about 12%).

Exports from the broader Changwon area also maintained their recent upward trend. According to recently released export-import statistics from the Korea International Trade Association, Changwon’s exports totaled 22.6 billion dollars last year. During the same period, the trade surplus came to 16.3 billion dollars. The size of Changwon’s trade surplus was the sixth largest nationwide, including both metropolitan and basic local governments.

Notably, while exports to the United States, which had long accounted for the largest share of exports, remained stagnant, exports to Poland, a major customer of K-defense, expanded sharply. With Hanwha Aerospace’s K9 self-propelled howitzers and Hyundai Rotem’s K2 tanks being delivered in earnest, exports to Poland reached 3.52925 billion dollars, making it the second-largest export destination after the United States (7.19879 billion dollars). Exports to China, which had previously been the second-largest export market, totaled 1.66146 billion dollars.

Going forward, Changwon City plans to do its utmost to devise policies that further expand regional production and exports, while also ensuring that the positive effects in the industrial sector are spread evenly throughout the local economy.