Korea's trade reliance declines in 2023 amid global uncertainty: BOK

Containers are piled at a port in South Korea's southern city of Busan, July 31. Yonhap

The Korean economy became less dependent on trade in 2023 on weak exports and falling raw material prices amid global economic uncertainties, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The country's overall industrial transactions edged down 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 6,802.7 trillion won ($4.88 trillion) in 2023.

Of the total, external transactions involving both exports and imports accounted for 29.6 percent, down 1.9 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the industrial input-output analysis report by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

"Exports decreased mainly in petrochemicals, computer and electronic, and optical devices, while imports fell due to lower prices of raw materials, such as crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG)," the BOK said.

Domestic output accounted for 85.1 percent of total industrial production in 2023, up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier, while imports fell to 14.9 percent from 16 percent in 2022.

Exports totaled $632.6 billion in 2023, down 7.4 percent from a year earlier, weighed down by sluggish semiconductor demand amid the global monetary tightening moves and the delayed recovery of China's economy.

Imports fell 12.1 percent to $642.7 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $9.97 billion.