Trade Deficit of $4.4 Billion from November 1-20... Cumulative Deficit Reaches $40 Billion (Update)

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The cumulative trade deficit reached $40 billion as of the 20th of this month, marking the largest annual deficit on record. Exports from the 1st to the 20th of this month decreased by more than 15% compared to the previous year.

According to the Korea Customs Service on the 21st, the export value (provisional customs clearance basis) from the 1st to the 20th of this month was $33.16 billion, down 16.7% from the same period last year.

During this period, the number of working days was 15.5, one day less than the 16.5 days in the same period last year. The average daily export value decreased by 11.3%.

Items such as passenger cars (28.6%) and petroleum products (16.1%) increased, while semiconductors (-29.4%), wireless communication devices (-20.6%), and precision instruments (-22.2%) decreased. Exports to major countries declined except for the United States (11.0%), including China (-28.3%), the European Union (EU, -1.5%), Vietnam (-14.4%), Japan (-17.9%), and Taiwan (-23.5%).

During the same period, imports amounted to $37.578 billion, down 5.5% from the same period last year. The average daily import value increased by 0.6%.

Crude oil (19.1%), gas (21.2%), and passenger cars (91.4%) increased, while semiconductors (-12.4%) and petroleum products (-25.2%) decreased. Imports increased from the EU (9.5%) and Saudi Arabia (10.9%), but decreased from China (-12.1%), the United States (-5.5%), Japan (-15.3%), and Australia (-13.3%).

The trade balance from the 1st to the 20th of this month recorded a deficit of $4.418 billion. The cumulative trade deficit from the beginning of this year to the 20th of this month reached $39.968 billion, marking the largest annual deficit on record.

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