"Strong Semiconductor and Petroleum Product Exports Drive US Dollar Payment Share to 83.9%"

Bank of Korea Announces '2021 Exports and Imports by Settlement Currency'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] As exports of semiconductors and petroleum products, which have a high dollar payment rate, increased, the share of the US dollar in total export settlement currencies reached 83.9%.

According to the "2021 Export and Import by Settlement Currency (Final)" announced by the Bank of Korea on the 22nd, last year's export share by settlement currency was recorded as follows: US dollar (83.9%), euro (5.9%), yen (2.6%), won (2.4%), and yuan (2.0%). The payment share of these five currencies accounted for 96.8% of total exports.

While the US dollar payment share rose by 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous year, the euro and yen fell by 0.3 percentage points and 0.4 percentage points, respectively. The increase was due to a 26.2% rise in US dollar-denominated exports centered on semiconductors and petroleum products. The shares of semiconductors and petroleum products in US dollar-denominated exports reached 98.6% and 98.7%, respectively.

On the other hand, the euro-denominated export share declined as the growth rate of euro-denominated exports (19.8%) lagged behind the overall export growth (25.7%) due to sluggishness in pharmaceuticals and other sectors.

The yuan export settlement share recorded 2.02%, marking an all-time high. This slight increase was driven by growth in yuan-denominated exports centered on chemical products and steel products.

Last year, the import share by settlement currency also showed the US dollar (80.1%) as the highest, followed by won (6.5%), euro (5.9%), yen (5.1%), and yuan (1.5%). The payment share of these five currencies accounted for 99.2% of total imports.

The import share based on the US dollar rose by 2 percentage points compared to the previous year. Park Chang-hyun, team leader of the International Balance of Payments Team at the Bank of Korea’s Economic Statistics Bureau, explained, "The share of US dollar-denominated imports such as crude oil and gas, which are usually settled in US dollars (34.9%), exceeded the total import share (31.5%), leading to an increase compared to the previous year." The average annual import price of crude oil surged 53.9%, from $45.4 per barrel in 2020 to $69.8 last year.

The yuan import settlement share also slightly increased to 1.52%, up 0.03 percentage points from the previous year, marking an all-time high. This was due to a 33.8% increase in yuan-denominated imports centered on machinery and precision instruments.

Conversely, the won import share decreased by 0.5 percentage points from the previous year to 6.5%. This decline was due to a slowdown in passenger car imports, with won-denominated imports increasing by only 22.6%.

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