Middle East Trade Deficit Surpasses $10 Billion for the First Time in July... 2.2 Times the Total Trade Deficit

On the 7th, cargo trucks were parked at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi Province, as the Cargo Solidarity Union launched a general strike demanding the abolition of the sunset clause on safe freight rates and an increase in transportation fees due to high oil prices. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] It has been revealed that South Korea's trade deficit with the Middle East exceeded the $10 billion mark for the first time last month. This amount is more than twice the country's total trade deficit. The surge is attributed to the impact of soaring international energy prices on imports such as crude oil from the Middle East.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association on the 3rd, South Korea's trade balance with the Middle East was provisionally recorded as a deficit of $10.06 billion last month. The deficit increased by 144.2% compared to the same month last year (-$4.12 billion).

This is the first time since the related statistics began to be compiled in 1988 that the monthly trade deficit with the Middle East has exceeded $10 billion. The previous record for the largest trade deficit was $8.784 billion in February 2013.

The expansion of the trade deficit with the Middle East is due to exports increasing by only 11.7% to $1.493 billion compared to the same month last year, while imports surged by 111.8% to $11.555 billion.

Last month's trade deficit with the Middle East was 2.2 times the total trade deficit recorded by South Korea (-$4.67 billion).

The trade deficit from crude oil imports and other goods from the Middle East was much larger than the trade surpluses earned from exports of petrochemical products, semiconductors, and automobiles to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN, $4.59 billion), the United States ($3.31 billion), and India ($1.52 billion).

The cumulative trade deficit with the Middle East from January to July this year reached $51.73 billion, which is 3.4 times South Korea's total trade deficit (-$15.02 billion) during the same period.

Due to prolonged instability in supply caused by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, energy prices have continued to soar. The price of Dubai crude oil, the benchmark for imported crude oil, reached $103.14 per barrel last month, a 41.4% increase compared to $72.93 in the same month last year.

From January to July this year, South Korea's crude oil import value was $61.57 billion, a 265.9% increase compared to the same period last year.

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