Medical Supplies Exports Skyrocket 224.9% YoY
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on July 21 that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reached US$56.5 billion in exports in the first half of this year, up 21.5 percent from a year ago. The figure is an all-time high since the ministry’s records began in 2010. The previous high is US$54.2 billion, which was recorded in the second half of 2020.
Specifically, their cosmetics exports increased 17.1 percent year on year to US$2.71 billion and their medical supplies exports skyrocketed 224.9 percent to US$1.98 billion. In addition, their semiconductor, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and auto parts exports jumped 45.5 percent, 21.5 percent and 26.1 percent to US$1.5 billion, US$1.88 billion and US$2.12 billion, respectively.
Their exports to their 10 major export destinations, which account for 69 percent of the exports, increased 19.4 percent and their half-yearly exports to the United States and Germany reached record highs. The exports to the United States, which increased more than 10 percent in April, May and June, totaled US$6.98 billion in the first half. The exports to Germany were led by medical supplies exports (US$2.98 billion) and chemical products (US$23.95 million).
Their online exports added up to US$560 million with a year-on-year increase of 101 percent. The number of South Korean SMEs doing online exports increased 58 percent to 6,576. Cosmetics and apparel accounted for more than 38 percent and 16 percent of the online export items, respectively. Japan, China and the United States accounted for 52.4 percent, 18.1 percent and 17.7 percent of their online exports, respectively.