Import Price Index Rises 34.4%... Terms of Trade Worsen for 10 Consecutive Months

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It has been revealed that South Korea's import value level increased by more than 30% compared to a year ago. This is due to the sharp rise in international oil prices and raw material costs. Accordingly, South Korea's terms of trade have deteriorated for 10 consecutive months.

According to the 'January Trade Index and Terms of Trade' statistics released by the Bank of Korea on the 25th, last month's import value index was 166.70 (2015 base 100), up 34.4% from a year earlier. This marks 14 consecutive months of increase since December last year (2.9%).

By item, the import value index for mining products rose by 109.6%, and coal and petroleum products among manufactured goods also increased by 69.5%. Primary metal products (40.8%) and textile and leather products (27.0%) also showed high growth rates.

The import volume index was 135.72, 10.2% higher than January last year. This is the 17th consecutive month of increase. Based on the import volume index, mining products (38.5%) and electrical equipment (28.7%) showed high growth rates. Son Jin-sik, head of the price statistics team at the Bank of Korea, explained, "Due to the significant rise in international oil prices and raw material costs, the import value index increased mainly for mining products, petroleum products, and primary metal products."

The export value index (134.94) and export volume index (122.86) also rose by 22.4% and 7.4% respectively compared to the previous year. Among individual items, export values of coal and petroleum products (87.4%) and primary metal products (41.0%) increased significantly. The export value and volume indices for semiconductors, a key export product, rose by 26.1% and 17.9% respectively compared to the same month last year.

The net commodity terms of trade index recorded 89.42, down 6.8% from a year ago, marking 10 consecutive months of decline. This is because import prices rose by 21.9% while export prices increased by only 13.6%. The net commodity terms of trade index is the ratio of the price of one unit of export goods to the price of one unit of import goods, serving as an indicator of how much import volume South Korea can obtain per unit of export.

In the case of the income terms of trade index, although the net commodity terms of trade index (-6.8%) declined, it rose by 0.3% due to the increase in the export volume index (+7.7%). The income terms of trade index represents the total volume of goods that South Korea can import with its total export value.

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