"Two Years of COVID-19, Southeast Region Exports Increase by 6.2%...Significantly Below National Growth Rate"

BNK Economic Research Institute: "Traditional Manufacturing-Centered Export Structure is the Cause... Focus Needed on Eco-Friendly and Contactless Exports"

BNK Financial Group Headquarters

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] It has been found that export performance in the Southeast region (Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam) has fallen significantly short of the national average since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report "Analysis of Export Changes in the Southeast Region After COVID-19" published on the 8th by BNK Economic Research Institute, affiliated with BNK Financial Group, the export growth rate in the Southeast region last year increased by only 6.2% compared to 2019 before the pandemic. This figure is less than one-third of the national growth rate (18.8%).

In the first year of the COVID-19 crisis, 2020, exports in the Southeast region decreased by 15.9%, showing a sharp decline three times the national decrease rate (-5.5%). Although the export growth rate last year was 26.2%, slightly exceeding the national average (25.7%), it was significantly below the national average when compared to the pre-COVID-19 period.

The weak rebound in exports in the Southeast region is attributed to delayed recovery of key items. The average export growth rate of the top five key items in the Southeast region last year compared to 2019 was -6.6%. This contrasts with the national export growth rate of the top five key items, which reached 23.2% during the same period. By item, gasoline (23.6%) and passenger cars (3.6%) showed an upward trend, but diesel (-24.3%), ships (-14.6%), and auto parts (-12.0%) remained below pre-COVID-19 levels.

BNK Economic Research Institute pointed out that exports in the Southeast region show a vulnerable pattern of falling sharply compared to the national level whenever external shocks occur. The institute stated, "The Southeast region has a concentrated regional export structure centered on traditional manufacturing items such as machinery, chemicals, steel, and metals, with the export share of heavy chemical products exceeding 70%, which has hardly improved," adding, "It is necessary to avoid a heavy chemical product-centered export ecosystem to establish a stable export structure."

BNK Economic Research Institute also advised paying attention to eco-friendly and non-face-to-face related sectors. Following the eco-friendly trend, exports of electric vehicles increased by 70.7%, and exports of secondary battery-related products such as accumulators (91.1%) and silver (74.8%) also rose significantly. Additionally, with the increase in non-face-to-face demand, exports of refrigerators and synthetic resin, materials for masks and packaging, increased by 107.7% and 48.9% respectively compared to 2019, showing high growth.

Jung Young-doo, head of BNK Economic Research Institute, said, "As uncertainty in the export environment is expected to increase further, it is important to strengthen responsiveness through product diversification," and added, "Efforts should be made to revitalize exports of eco-friendly and untact items, which are expected to see demand expansion even in the post-COVID-19 era."

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