Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that annual exports from Korea’s Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in 2024 jumped 22.5 percent year-on-year to USD 14.9 billion, a historic high since the Masan FTZ designation in 1970, entering the $10 billion thresholds for the fourth consecutive year (2021–2024).

In Korea, there are currently 13 areas designated and operating as FTZs, composed of seven industrial complex FTZs, one airport FTZ, and five port FTZs.

By FTZ type, airport FTZ exports took the lead, taking up 85.2 percent of total FTZ exports in 2024 with $12.7 billion, followed by industrial complex FTZs ($2.1 billion) and port FTZs ($0.08 billion).

Exports of industrial complex FTZs surpassed $2 billion for two straight years on the backs of strong global demand for Korean automobiles, ships, and related parts spurred by high value-added and green market trends. Airport FTZ exports soared 29.3 percent to $12.7 billion, thanks to the sharply climbing demand for high-performance semiconductors and high bandwidth memory chips as data processing capacity is emerging as a key element along with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

By item, semiconductor exports took up 85.2 percent of entire FTZ exports, followed by electrical and electronic precision devices (6.4 percent) like car parts, mobile phone parts, and petrochemicals (1.9 percent) including petroleum resin.

By region, China (64.3 percent) was the largest buyer of Korea’s FTZs in 2024, followed by other countries including Vietnam (8.8 percent), the U.S. (3.2 percent), and India (2.2 percent).