◀ Anchor ▶
Last year, Korea had a trade deficit of about $10 billion.
The deficit has decreased compared to a year ago, and exports have been recovering since the second half of the year, but the trade balance with China turned into a deficit for the first time last year.
This is reporter Jaemin Go.
◀ Report ▶
Minus $9.97 billion.
Last year’s trade balance recorded a deficit for two consecutive years following 2022.
Semiconductor exports decreased by more than 23% compared to the previous year, which had a significant impact on exports, which decreased by 7.4%.
However, as memory semiconductor prices recovered in the fourth quarter of last year, exports also showed improvement.
[방문규/산업통상자원부 장관 (그젯밤)]
″As the semiconductor plus plus trend continues, it is predicted that exports of semiconductors will increase by double digits, or about 18%, next year (2024)… ″
Automobiles, which recorded the highest export performance ever, also contributed to reducing the deficit.
Last December, monthly exports to the United States surpassed China, making the United States Korea’s largest export destination for the first time in 20 years.
On the other hand, the trade balance with China recorded a deficit of $18 billion last year.
We saw a deficit every month from January to December, marking the first time in the annual trade balance since 1992 when diplomatic relations between Korea and China were established.
China’s economic downturn had an impact, but as China’s self-sufficiency in intermediate goods increased, there was no longer a need to rely on Korea.
In addition, we have purchased a lot of core secondary battery materials, such as lithium, from China.
The government believes that exports will be able to lead our economic growth this year as they are recovering, but concerns remain.
[박상현/하이투자증권 전문위원]
″As the conflict between the U.S. and China becomes more acute, our position in exporting to China may be significantly narrowed… This is bound to be quite bad news for the intermediate goods industry, which was highly dependent on China… ″
In particular, the fact that growth in major developed countries, including the United States, is expected to slow is also considered a factor of concern.
This is Go Jae-min from MBC News.
2024-01-01 22:21:23
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