Top Export Item for SMEs: 'Cosmetics'... Top 3 Markets China, USA, Vietnam

Announcement of '2023 SME Export Trends' on the 30th
Export amount $111.8 billion... 2.3% decrease compared to the previous year

Last year, the main export items of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were cosmetics and automobiles. The major export countries were China, the United States, and Vietnam.

Export containers are being loaded onto a ship at Busan North Port. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the ‘2023 SME Export Trends (Provisional)’ including this information on the 30th.

The export amount was recorded at 111.8 billion dollars, a 2.3% decrease compared to the previous year. Since surpassing 110 billion dollars for the first time in 2021, the export performance has maintained over 110 billion dollars for three consecutive years.

The declining export trend that continued from the second half of 2022 lasted until the first half of last year, but from August, it shifted to an increasing trend compared to the previous year, leading to a rebound in exports in the second half. This mitigated the overall decline in SME exports.

The number of exporting SMEs was 94,635 companies, a 2.4% increase from 92,448 companies the previous year. The number of new exporting companies increased by 6.0% compared to the previous year, while the number of companies that stopped exporting decreased by 1.9%, improving export indicators.

The top export item was cosmetics, followed by automobiles, plastic products, automobile parts, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The concentration of the top 10 export items among all SME exports was 33%, which was lower than the total top 10 export items concentration of 57.5%.

For cosmetics and automobiles, the export growth rates were 20.2% and 57.4%, respectively. Although exports of cosmetics to China decreased, export destinations diversified to the United States, Japan, Vietnam, and others. For automobiles, the Ukraine-Russia war halted automobile production in Russia, increasing demand for used cars in neighboring countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Exports of automobiles to Middle Eastern regions like Libya also showed an increasing trend.

The top 10 countries by export amount were China, the United States, Vietnam, Japan, India, Russia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mexico, and Indonesia, in that order. In the case of the United States, exports increased by 850 million dollars last year, the largest increase among all export countries, due to growth in major items such as automobile parts, cosmetics, and other machinery. Russia’s export growth was driven by increases in cosmetics and automobile parts exports. Mexico’s exports increased due to rising demand for automobile parts following the expansion of local automobile factory production.

Online export amount was 760 million dollars, an 11.3% increase compared to the previous year. Among the total domestic online exports of 990 million dollars, SMEs accounted for 76.5%. Major online export items showed strong growth, including cosmetics (31.6%) and stationery and toys, which include idol goods (135.3%).

Choi Won-young, Director of Global Growth Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, “Last year, SME exports decreased compared to the previous year due to unstable external environments such as China’s economic recession and a tightening fiscal policy caused by high inflation. However, there were positive aspects such as diversification of export countries and an increase in the number of exporting SMEs. We will fully support SME exports to continue the export growth trend that has been ongoing since the second half of last year into this year.”

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