Korean media: South Korea's export dependence is as high as 37.6%, twice that of China and Japan!
On August 8, the Korean media "Energy Economy" published an article stating that South Korea's product export dependence is the highest among G20 countries, making it inevitably vulnerable to changes in global trade conditions and environment.
The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently released a report titled "Trends and Impacts of Product Export Dependence in G20" which stated that in 2023, the proportion of South Korean product exports to GDP was 37.6%, the highest among G20 countries.
The report shows that the share of South Korean goods exports is higher than Germany (33.3%), China (17.9%) and Japan (17.0%) in G20, more than twice the G20 average (16.5%).
The dependence on product exports has also risen significantly. Over the past 30 years since the WTO system was launched, South Korea's product export dependence increased from 21.1% in 1995 to 37.6% in 2023, an increase of 16.5 percentage points, second only to Mexico (20.5 percentage points), ranking second in the world.
Lee Joo-gwan, a researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy who participated in writing the report, said, "We should refer to the efforts made by the UK and Japan to strengthen their service sectors and balance capital income. The UK achieved a trade balance through the export of financial and distribution industries, while Japan achieved a trade balance through the construction and investment of overseas assets. Although both countries had trade deficits last year, their service and capital income balances achieved huge surpluses, playing an important role as a safety net."
Over the past 30 years since the WTO was established, the UK's service surplus increased 16 times, and by 2023, the UK's service surplus ranked second among G20 countries.
In 2006, the Japanese government announced a shift from being an "export power" dependent on trade surpluses to an "investment power" aimed at ensuring investment returns, significantly expanding investments in high-yield overseas assets.
Lee Jong-myeong, Director of the Department of Industrial Innovation at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Some are concerned that growth relying solely on product exports will be limited. We need to make multi-faceted efforts such as the industrialization of Korean food and Korean culture, the strategic export of intellectual property, and strategic overseas investments."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1839852268616708/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.