Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on August 1 that Korea’s exports in July 2025 rose 5.9 percent year-on-year to USD 60.8 billion, while imports edged up 0.7 percent to $54.2 billion. The trade balance recorded a surplus of $6.6 billion.

Daily average exports for the month, factoring in the number of working days, also rose 5.9 percent to $2.4 billion.

Of Korea’s 15 major export categories, three posted growth in July. Semiconductors hit a historic high for the month, up 31.6 percent to $14.7 billion, driven by rising contract prices and sustained global demand for high-value memory products, such as HBM and DDR5.

Automobile exports grew 8.8 percent to $5.8 billion for the second consecutive month, supported by strong demand for hybrid electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles. Ship exports increased for the fifth straight month, soaring 107.6 percent to $2.2 billion fueled by greater shipments of high-value vessels, including tankers and LNG carriers.

Non-major export items reached a new record of $14.2 billion with the help of agricultural food products (up 3.8 percent to $1.1 billion), cosmetics (up 18.1 percent to $1.0 billion), and electric machinery (up 19.2 percent to $1.6 billion).

Furthermore, exports increased in six out of nine major regional markets. Exports to ASEAN climbed 10.1 percent to $10.9 billion, driven largely by strong growth in semiconductors, though China-bound exports dropped 3.0 percent to $11.0 billion.

Exports to the US increased 1.4 percent to $10.3 billion due to a rise in semiconductors, wireless communication devices, cosmetics, electric machinery, and other non-major export items, offsetting declines in steel and automobile parts.

Exports to the EU grew for the fifth consecutive month, gaining 8.7 percent to $6.0 billion, with multiple major export items such as automobiles, ships, and petroleum products trending upward. Exports to CIS countries (up 21.5 percent to $1.2 billion) grew for the fifth consecutive month, and Latin America (up 4.4 percent to $2.7 billion) and India (up 10.7 percent to $1.8 billion) marked their second consecutive months of growth.

Exports to Taiwan also soared 68 percent to $4.7 billion thanks to a near-doubling of semiconductor exports.