Korea's exports rise 25.8 percent to all-time high in 2021

Container ships are seen loaded with cargo at Busan Port, in this Dec. 7 file photo. Yonhap

Exports rose 25.8 percent in 2021 from the previous year to reach an all-time high on the back of solid demand for semiconductors and petroleum products amid a global economic recovery, the industry ministry said Saturday.

Outbound shipments stood at $644.54 billion last year, compared with $512.5 billion in 2020, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

This is the highest annual figure since 1956 when the country began compiling trade related data ― the previous record was $604.9 billion set in 2018.

The country's exports surpassed the $100 million mark for the first time in 1964, $10 billion in 1977, and reached the $100 billion milestone in 1995 and $600 billion in 2018.

Imports spiked 31.5 percent year-on-year to $615.05 billion in 2021, resulting in a trade surplus of $29.49 billion ― the 13th consecutive year that the country's exports exceeded imports.

Total trade volume also hit a yearly record of $1.26 trillion in 2021, making South Korea the eighth-largest trading nation in the world, according to the ministry. The country had been the world's ninth for about the previous decade.

For December, exports increased 18.3 percent year-on-year, reaching a monthly high of $60.74 billion.

Imports climbed 37.4 percent for the month to $61.32 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $590 million, the ministry's data showed.

Exports of the country's major items, such as semiconductors and petrochemicals, logged double-digit growth, to lead the overall gains, the ministry said.

Outbound shipments to nine major regions all grew in 2021, with yearly exports to China, the United States, the European Union, ASEAN nations and India reaching record highs, it added. (Yonhap)