‘Gyeonggi·Chungnam·Ulsan’ Top 3 Export Contributors... 5-Year Survival Rate of Companies 17%~18%

Provided by Korea Customs Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Gyeonggi, Chungnam, and Ulsan ranked in the top three regions for export contribution rates last year. The export share of these regions accounts for nearly half of the nation's total export volume. As of last year, the five-year survival rate of export-import companies nationwide was recorded at less than 20%.

On the 29th, the Korea Customs Service announced the "2019 Corporate Trade Activity Statistics," which included these details.

According to the published statistical data, the total number of companies participating in trade activities in South Korea last year was 236,865, an increase of 8,189 companies compared to the previous year, while the trade volume decreased from 1,018.1 billion dollars to 93.5 billion dollars.

When dividing the export and import sectors, the status was as follows: ▲ Export sector active companies numbered 98,568 (an increase of 1,180 companies from the previous year) with export value of 541.1 billion dollars (a decrease of 62.3 billion dollars from the previous year) ▲ Import sector active companies numbered 195,661 (an increase of 7,479 companies from the previous year) with import value of 477.0 billion dollars (a decrease of 31.1 billion dollars from the previous year).

Despite the decrease in trade volume, the regional export contribution rates were highest in Gyeonggi-do (21.5%), Chungnam (14.8%), Ulsan (12.8%), Seoul (10.6%), and Gyeongnam (7.2%), in that order.

In particular, the combined export contribution rate of the Gyeonggi, Chungnam, and Ulsan regions was 49.1%, nearly half of the total. This figure is 10 percentage points higher than the export contribution rate of the metropolitan area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon), which stands at 39.1%. The export contribution rate refers to the proportion of total domestic export performance.

By export item, electrical products including semiconductors had the highest contribution rate at 28.4%, followed by machinery and computers (13.1%), and automobiles (11.6%).

By company type, the export contribution rates were highest in the order of leading companies (90.2%), promising companies (4.5%), small but strong companies (3.1%), and startup companies (2.2%). Notably, leading companies accounted for only 3.3% of the total number of companies but led the entire export volume, highlighting their significance.

The slight decline in corporate survival rates compared to before, as shown in the statistical data, is also noteworthy.

Provided by Korea Customs Service

Last year, the one-year survival rate of export companies engaged in trade activities in Korea (entered in 2018 and continued activities in 2019) was 49.2%, and for import companies, it was 51.9%.

However, the five-year survival rate (entered in 2014 and continued activities in 2019) plummeted to 17.0% for export companies and 18.8% for import companies.

Moreover, it is understood that corporate survival rates decreased last year compared to 2017. For example, in the "2017 Corporate Trade Activity Statistics" announced by the Korea Customs Service in 2018, the corporate survival rates were ▲ one-year survival rate (entered in 2016 and continued activities in 2017) with export companies at 49.4% and import companies at 52.2%, ▲ five-year survival rate (entered in 2012 and continued activities in 2017) with export companies at 17.6% and import companies at 19.1%.

Reflecting this, the five-year survival rate of trade companies decreased by 0.6 percentage points for export companies and 0.3 percentage points for import companies from 2017 to 2019.

A Korea Customs Service official stated, "The Korea Customs Service will secure various trade statistics and analytical information to support the government in establishing trade-related policies and assist companies in expanding exports, startups, and job creation from behind the scenes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.