From the 1st to the 20th of this month, exports amounted to $35.5 billion, increasing by 4.5% compared to the same period last year. The trade balance, which is the difference between exports and imports, recorded a surplus of $1.1 billion.
According to the '2025 March 1-20 export and import status' announced by the Korea Customs Service on the 21st, exports during this period reached $35.5 billion. Imports during the same period were $34.4 billion, a decrease of 1.4% compared to the same period last year.
The average daily export amount from March 1-20 was $2.54 billion, which is an increase of 8.2% compared to the same period last year ($2.35 billion).
However, looking at the annual cumulative figures, exports have decreased. From the beginning of the year to March 20, exports amounted to $137.173 billion, a decrease of 2.6% compared to the same period last year. The impact of reduced working days due to the Lunar New Year holiday and substitute holidays significantly affected the 10% decrease in exports in January compared to the same period last year.
From the beginning of the year to March 20, imports also decreased to $133.671 billion, a 2.8% decrease compared to the same period last year. During the same period, the trade balance recorded a surplus of $3.520 billion.
By item, semiconductors, a major export product of our country, turned back to an increasing trend after a month. The semiconductor export amount from March 1-20 was an increase of 11.6% compared to the same period last year.
Last month, semiconductor exports decreased by 3%, raising concerns, but they have now returned to a recovery trend. The share of semiconductor exports in total exports from March 1-20 was 19.9%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
During the same period, exports of ships (80.3%) and passenger cars (3.7%) also increased compared to the same period last year.
The export amount of petroleum products decreased by 24.6% compared to the same period last year, and the export amount of automobile parts also decreased by 5.9% compared to the same period last year.
By country, from March 1-20, exports to the United States (2.5%), the European Union (15.2%), and Vietnam (4.0%) increased compared to the same period last year. Exports to China and Hong Kong decreased by 3.8% and 16.4%, respectively.
Looking at the import status, imports of semiconductors (6.8%), gas (14.2%), and semiconductor equipment (64.6%) increased compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, imports of crude oil (-19.0%) and machinery (-5.3%) decreased.
By country, imports from the European Union (5.4%), Japan (11.1%), and Taiwan (32.3%) increased compared to the same period last year. Imports from the United States decreased by 13.4% compared to the same period last year, and imports from China decreased by 4%.