Clear Recovery in Export Index Amid Semiconductor Industry Improvement... Rising for 6 Consecutive Months

Export Volume Index and Export Value Index on the Rise

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

As the semiconductor market improves, our export volume index and export value index continued their upward trend. Terms of trade are also improving.

According to the preliminary trade index and terms of trade for February released by the Bank of Korea on the 27th, the export volume index in February rose 3.8% compared to the same month last year. During the same period, the export value index also increased by 3.7%.

The export volume index and export value index are statistics compiled to analyze export and import value fluctuations by separating price factors and volume factors. The export volume index has been rising for six consecutive months, and the export value index has been rising for five consecutive months.

The improvement in export indices is thanks to the significant recovery in the semiconductor industry. The semiconductor export volume index in February rose 51.8% year-on-year, marking the largest increase in 11 years and 8 months since June 2012.

The export volume index for computers, electronics, and optical equipment including semiconductors rose 29.9% compared to the previous year. This is the highest level in 1 year and 11 months since March 2022. On the other hand, textiles and leather products (-9.8%) and primary metal products (-8%) decreased.

Yuseong Wook, head of the Price Statistics Team at the Economic Statistics Bureau of the Bank of Korea, said, "Although indices for items in upstream industries such as primary metals declined, the continued improvement in the semiconductor industry has led to an overall improvement in export volume and value indices."

The import volume index in February fell 9.7% year-on-year, and the import value index also dropped 13.5%. These represent declines for eight and twelve consecutive months, respectively. Although machinery and equipment increased, declines in mining products and chemical products continued the downward trend.

The net barter terms of trade index in February rose 4.3% year-on-year as import prices (-4.2%) fell more than export prices (-0.1%).

The net barter 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, indicating how many goods Korea can import with one unit of exports.

The income terms of trade index in February rose 8.3% year-on-year as both the export volume index (3.8%) and the net barter terms of trade index (4.3%) increased. The income terms of trade index shows the total quantity of goods Korea can import with its total export value.

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