Int’l Trade Performance
According to the Institute for International Trade of the Korea International Trade Association, Korea’s export growth surpassed the global average trade growth each year between 2000 and 2014, with the only exception being 2005, when the former was 6.3 percent while the latter reached 6.6 percent.
Last year, Korea’s export volume and amount increased by 4.4 percent and 2.4 percent from a year ago, exceeding global trade growth by a margin of 1.3 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively. In terms of the latter, Korea followed China (5.7 percent), Germany (4.5 percent), the United States (2.9 percent), and Italy (2.6 percent).
Korea global export market share went up by 0.38 percentage points to 3.35 percent during the same period. The export of semiconductor and steel products, wireless communication devices, and precision machinery showed significant growth.
Semiconductor products accounted for 40.7 percent of the export increase, followed by steel (23 percent), ships (20 percent), and wireless communication devices (14.8 percent). Meanwhile, the export unit prices of petroleum and petrochemical products and LCDs dropped due to the global economic recession, plummeting oil prices, and competition with Chinese suppliers.