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| ▲ This file photo, taken Dec. 9, 2022, shows container ships being loaded with cargo at a port in South Korea's largest port city of Busan. (Yonhap) |
trade balance-2022 tally
S. Korea logs record high exports, largest ever trade deficit in 2022
SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports rose 6.1 percent in 2022 from a year earlier to reach an all-time high, but it suffered the largest ever trade deficit on high global energy prices, the industry ministry said Sunday.
Outbound shipments stood at US$683.9 billion last year, the largest annual figure since 1956, when the country began compiling trade related data, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The previous record was set a year earlier with $644.4 billion, the ministry said.
Imports spiked 18.9 percent on-year to $731.2 billion last year, resulting in a trade deficit of $47.2 billion.
The shortfall is more than double of the previous record deficit of $20.62 billion logged in 1996, and the largest ever figure since 1956, according to the ministry.
For December, monthly exports fell 9.5 percent on-year to stand at $54.99 billion, extending the losing streak to the third consecutive month.
Imports grew 2.4 percent on-year last month to $59.68 billion, and the monthly trade deficit came to $4.69 billion.
Imports have exceeded exports in South Korea since April, and it is the first time since 1997 that the country has suffered a trade deficit for nine months in a row.
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