Last Year, Transportation Industry Revenue Decreased by 5.8 Trillion Won... Sharp Decline in Water Transport Due to Falling Maritime Freight Rates

Last year, the number of transportation companies and workers increased, but sales revenue decreased by 5.8 trillion KRW compared to the previous year. The decline in maritime freight rates significantly impacted the water transportation industry's sales, which dropped by more than 30%.

Export and import cargo piled up at Busan Port dock. Photo by Yonhap News

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According to the "2023 Transportation Industry Survey Results (Provisional)" released by Statistics Korea on the 12th, the number of transportation companies last year was 613,000, an increase of 2.4% (14,000 companies) from the previous year. The number of workers also rose by 3.1% (41,000 people) to 1,379,000. On the other hand, sales revenue decreased by 2.5% (5.8 trillion KRW) to 226.7 trillion KRW. Operating expenses (200.7 trillion KRW) increased by 2.9% (5.7 trillion KRW).

Last year, the overall industry size grew as the number of road freight transport companies, such as Yongdal Freight Truck Transport, increased, along with a rise in workers related to road freight transport, including Neulchan Delivery. However, due to poor performance in sectors like foreign cargo transport and air cargo transport, total sales revenue declined. Additionally, operating expenses increased mainly in sectors such as air transportation, where sales revenue grew significantly.

A Statistics Korea official explained, "Looking at sales revenue by transportation sector, water transportation (44.2 trillion KRW) decreased by 30.3% compared to the previous year, leading to an overall decline in total sales revenue. It appears that the drop in maritime freight rates caused the decrease in water transportation sales."

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Focusing solely on the logistics industry, the number of companies last year increased by 3.3% (14,000 companies) to 436,000 compared to the previous year. The number of workers rose by 4.1% (34,000 people) to 851,000. However, sales revenue decreased by 12.3% (22.6 trillion KRW) to 160.6 trillion KRW. Operating expenses (141.5 trillion KRW) also fell by 4.1% (6 trillion KRW). The logistics industry's share within the transportation sector was 71.2% by number of companies and 69.6% by sales revenue.

The logistics industry saw an increase in companies and workers mainly centered on land freight transport. However, total sales revenue declined significantly, mainly due to maritime and air freight transport. A Statistics Korea official stated, "The logistics industry also experienced a significant drop in sales due to the decline in maritime freight rates in water cargo."

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