Thanks to a rebound in semiconductor exports and the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), last year's shipments in the electronics and telecommunications sector hit the highest level since records began. As a result, all four key indicators for mining and manufacturing—number of enterprises, number of employees, shipments, and value added—increased.
According to the "2024 Mining and Manufacturing Survey results (provisional)" that the National Data Office released on the 17th, last year's shipments in the electronics and telecommunications sector came to 340.5 trillion won, up 71.2 trillion won (26.4%) from a year earlier. It is the largest scale since 2008, when the current survey standards were applied.
Electronics and telecommunications shipments peaked at 320.5 trillion won in 2022, then slowed in 2023, but rebounded last year to set a record high. Over the same period, value added rose 55.2 trillion won (48.4%) to 169.4 trillion won.
The National Data Office said higher memory chip exports driven by growing AI demand improved electronics and telecommunications performance. The sector also reclaimed the No. 1 spot in shipments from automobiles, which it ceded in 2023.
Automobile sector shipments reached 294.1 trillion won last year, up 5.1 trillion won (1.8%) from a year earlier. The sector remained on an upward trend but lagged the pace of recovery in electronics and telecommunications.
The food sector also showed growth. On the back of stronger demand for ready-to-eat meals and rising exports of K-food such as ramen, food shipments increased 2.5% to 124.5 trillion won, and value added climbed 3.7% to 42.1 trillion won.
Defense exports increased, improving results in the fabricated metal products sector as well. Fabricated metal shipments rose 3.9% to 94.9 trillion won, and value added increased 9.3% to 36.8 trillion won.
For mining and manufacturing overall, last year's shipments totaled 2,090.2 trillion won, up 97.7 trillion won (4.9%) from a year earlier. Value added rose 77.2 trillion won (11.4%) to 752.3 trillion won.
The number of employees increased by 62,000 (2.1%) to 3,046,000, and the number of enterprises rose by 508 (0.7%) to 73,890.