Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

S.Korea 11th in global export market for top-ranked items

S.Korea 11th in global export market for top-ranked items date2021-05-10

K-beauty boom makes S.Korea the fourth-largest cosmetics exporter

K-beauty boom makes S.Korea the fourth-largest cosmetics exporter date2021-05-06

Korea’s exports in April jump 41.1% to $51.2 billion

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on May 1 that Korea’s exports in April jumped 41.1 percent to USD 51.2 billion. Imports expanded 33.9 percent to $50.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $388 million. Exports in April recorded the sharpest year-on-year growth since January 2011. This is a noticeable improvement, way above the base effect from last year’s contraction (down 25.6 percent). The export value exceeded $50.0 billion for two months in a row, markin date2021-05-03

Amendments to the 「Enforcement Decree of the Environment-friendly Vehicles Act」approved at Cabinet Meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the government has approved amendments to the “Enforcement Decree of the Act on Promotion of Development and Distribution of Environment-friendly Motor Vehicles” during a cabinet meeting on April 27. The revisions mean that ① public institutions will be required to purchase only environment-friendly vehicles (current requirements are 70% of all vehicles), and ② parking electric vehicles (EVs) at standard charging stations date2021-04-30

Korea’s retail sales move up 18.5% in March

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on April 26 that Korea’s overall retail sales in March saw a year-on-year growth of 18.5 percent. Sales at both offline and online retailers increased, up 21.7 percent and 15.2 percent, respectively. The Ministry releases monthly retail sales figures based on surveys of 26 major retailers. Half of them are physical retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four “super date2021-04-27

Korea’s ICT exports in March rise 8.9% to $17.4 billion

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on April 14 that outbound shipments of Korea’s information and communications technology (ICT) goods in March increased 8.9 percent to USD 17.4 billion.   Imports of ICT products totaled $10.9 billion, and the trade surplus stood at $6.5 billion.   Exports of all major items experienced growth in March.   Chip exports gained 7.9 percent to $9.6 billion and recorded growth for nine straight months. Both memory chips ( date2021-04-14

Korea's automobile output, domestic sales, and exports grow in Q1

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on April 13 that Korea’s automobile output, domestic sales, and exports in the first quarter of 2021 went up 12.2 percent, 11.3 percent, and 16.9 percent, respectively.    Meanwhile, for the month of March, output, domestic sales, and exports went down 9.5 percent, 0.9 percent, and 1.4 percent, respectively, due to a high base effect.   Total auto production in March by Korean automobile producers dipped 9.5 percent to date2021-04-13

FDI pledged to Korea amount to $4.7 billion in Q1

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on April 5 that foreign direct investments (FDIs) pledged to Korea in the first quarter of this year jumped 44.7 percent year-on-year to USD 4.7 billion. The FDIs that actually arrived in Korea over the same period also went up 42.9 percent to $4.3 billion. Despite difficult external circumstances amid COVID-19, FDI arrivals hit the record high quarterly value for the first quarter in history. Investment that was delayed due to the virus outb date2021-04-05