Among the world’s top 10 export countries last year, exports from all countries except China declined from the previous year.
However, it was found that Korea was the second-largest decline, and saved even amid the shock of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the 28th, the exports of goods (including Hong Kong) of the top 10 exporting countries last year totaled $9,188.3 billion, down 5.1% from the previous year.
By country, the exports of China, the world’s largest exporter, reached $2.5911 billion last year, up 3.7% from a year ago.
Hong Kong, a special autonomous region in China, also saw a 2.6% increase in exports from a year ago.
On the other hand, exports to the US fell 12.9% year-on-year to $1.43 trillion, showing a double-digit decline.
France saw the largest decline, with exports falling 14.5%.
Japan also saw a sharp decline of 9.1% in one year, followed by Italy (-7.7%) and Germany (-7.3%).
Korea, the world’s seventh largest export country, last year’s exports of goods amounted to 5125 billion dollars, down 5.5% from a year ago.
However, the decline was the second smallest among the top 10 export countries after the Netherlands (-4.8%). In terms of the overall increase and decrease rate, it was ranked 4th among the top 10 exporting countries.
This is attributed to the recovery trend in exports, mainly for semiconductors and automobiles, from the second half of last year.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea’s monthly exports last year continued a negative march compared to the same period last year for six consecutive months from March, when Corona 19 began to spread in earnest.
In particular, from April to June, it recorded a double-digit decrease for three consecutive months.
However, in September, exports rebounded successfully, and except for October, when the number of working days was insufficient, the growth rate fell until November (4.1%) and December (12.6%).
In this year’s economic policy direction, the government predicted, “As global trade improves due to economic recovery in major countries, the trend of improvement will continue, focusing on new industries such as semiconductors and electric vehicles.”
[조세금융신문(tfmedia.co.kr), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]