Excluding intermediary trading countries, Korea’s export growth rate is second only to China.
[스트레이트뉴스 장석진 기자] Last year, exports of all the world’s top 10 exporting countries, excluding China, declined, and Korea showed a better advantage, the second smallest decline after the Netherlands. Korea ranked 7th in exports and 9th in combined exports and imports.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the 28th, exports of goods (including Hong Kong) from the top 10 exporting countries last year totaled $9,183.7 billion, down 5.1% from the previous year.
By country, exports of China, the world’s largest exporter, reached $2,591.1 billion, an increase of 3.7% year-on-year, and exports to Hong Kong, the Special Autonomous Region of China, also increased 2.6% from 2019.
The country with the largest decline in exports was France, a decrease of 14.5% compared to 2019, and the U.S. exports fell 12.9% compared to the previous year to $1,431.6 billion, showing a double-digit decline.
Exports to Japan also plummeted 9.1% in a year, and Italy (-7.7%) and Germany (-7.3%) were struggling.
Korea’s exports of goods last year amounted to 5125 billion dollars, down 5.5% from a year ago, but it remained the 7th place in the world from last year.
The reason for the strong exports seems to be that exports showed a recovery trend, 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. Excluding the exceptions, continuous growth continued until November (4.1%) and December (12.6%).
Korea’s share of global exports was estimated at 3.1%. This figure was 2.9% in 2019, below the 3% level in 11 years, but recovered to the 3% level in 1 year.
The first to sixth are China (15.8%), the United States (8.8%), Germany (8.4%), the Netherlands (4.1%), Japan (3.9%), and Hong Kong (3.4%).
The ranking of the top 5 countries among the top 10 exporting countries remained unchanged, but the UK was pushed out of the top 10 and Belgium (10th) entered.
Korea also ranked ninth in terms of combined exports and imports, the same as the previous year.
Korea’s share of global trade in 2020 was 3.0%, the same as in 2011 (3.0%), the record high.
Exports from the top 10 countries last year were sluggish due to the aftermath of Corona 19.
The number of countries that achieved $500 billion in exports decreased from 9 (including Korea) in 2019 to 7 (including Korea) in 2020, and the number of countries that achieved $1 trillion in trade during the same period was from 10 (including Korea) to 8 (Korea). Not included).
Korea’s annual export growth rate of 2020 was -5.5%, the fourth most favorable among major countries.
First place was China (3.7%), followed by Hong Kong (2.6%) and the Netherlands (-4.8%) in second or third place.
Germany (-7.3%), Italy (-7.7%), Japan (-9.1%), United States (-12.9%), United Kingdom (-14.1%), France (- 14.5%) and 8 countries’ exports fell at once.
Considering that Hong Kong is China and the Netherlands is an intermediary trading partner of the European Union (EU), Korea’s export performance is the second highest after China. Hong Kong and the Netherlands account for 89% and 44% of re-exports, respectively.
In its announcement in October last year, the WTO predicted that this year’s global trade in goods will increase by 7.2% from last year.
By region, exports and imports from advanced regions such as North America and Europe are expected to show a rapid recovery, and the recovery of Asia, Latin America, Middle East, and Independent States (CIS) is expected to be relatively modest.
The WTO cited the recurrence of the trade war between the US and China and protectionism, which is a trend that is strengthening around the world, as negative factors that will limit the recovery of world trade.
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