In the early morning of April of last year, officials are loading a cargo of the diagnostic kit to export a Korean-type diagnostic kit for coronavirus infection (Corona 19) to the United States at the cargo terminal of Incheon Airport. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) recorded record-high exports monthly and quarterly in December and fourth quarter of last year. In particular, exports of items related to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) such as diagnostic kits increased significantly. The share of SMEs in total exports also reached the highest level in the last three years.
According to the ‘2020 SME export trends and characteristics’ announced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 19th, exports of SMEs last year reached 100.8 billion dollars, down 0.2% from the previous year. Although the initial shock of Corona 19 was great, it recovered from the second half of the year and maintained the level at the same level as a year ago. SME exports increased significantly in September (19.1%) and continued to increase from November (12.1%) to December (14.0%). In December ($10.59 billion) and the fourth quarter ($28.8 billion), it set record-high monthly and quarterly records.
As SMEs outperformed large and medium-sized companies, their share of total exports exceeded 20% in the fourth quarter of last year from 17.4% in 2018. Exports of small- and medium-sized businesses-centered K-prevention products and non-face-to-face trend-promising items related to home economy rose, and online exports also played a role. It is estimated that without such beneficial items, exports of SMEs would have decreased by 5%, similar to that of all exports.
Thanks to the diagnostic kit… From 50th to 7th in Related Items
Materials Small and Medium Venture Business
Exports of K-prevention products increased 589% from the previous year. Among them, diagnostic kits were exported to 179 countries around the world, increasing 2989%. Other fine chemicals (PCR method), an item that includes diagnostic kits, ranked 7th from 50th in the top export items last year, and pharmaceuticals (rapid antigen method) also entered the top 10 items for the first time from 45th to 9th, emerging as a new export engine did.
The influence of the Korean Wave was also great. Since the second half of the year, exports of cosmetics to North America and Europe have continued to increase by double digits, and exports of music and video (video equipment) to the US have also increased by 38.6% due to the popularity of BTS. Promising items with non-face-to-face trends such as digital equipment also increased by 25%.
Online exports have also grown significantly. Last year, SMEs’ online exports grew 106.3% from the previous year. Related companies and employment also surged. The number of online export companies increased from 4303 to 7364, and the number of new sellers increased from 8497 to 29691, respectively.
Export recovery is expected to continue this year. Along with the global economic recovery, exports of SMEs’ flagship items such as auto parts, which were sluggish last year, are also expected to recover, and demand for corona19 promising items including diagnostic kits is expected to continue for a while. Mid-Medium Minister Park Young-sun said, “It is a great achievement to maintain the export scale of the previous year even in Corona 19. We will fully support SMEs to utilize the new trend as an opportunity to expand exports.”
Reporter Chu In-young [email protected]