The sharp increase in imports led to a 48% increase from the same period of the previous year and a 30% increase annually, resulting in a trade deficit due to an explosive increase in energy.
Until the 20th of this month, exports (customs clearance) amounted to $34.2 billion, up 36.1% ($9.1 billion) from the same period last year, but imports surged 48.0% to $36.7 billion.
The increase in imports has increased and the annual accumulated since January is $479 billion, an increase of 29.9% compared to the same period of the previous year, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.488 billion.
Last year, imports amounted to 368.7 billion dollars until October 20, down 8.5% from the previous year, resulting in a trade surplus of 330 million dollars.
Compared to the previous year, imports surged in gas (157.8%), petroleum products (330.1%), crude oil (98.4%), semiconductors (20.3%), and machinery (0.9%) slightly, and passenger cars (-8.8%). showed a decrease in consumption.
Australia (84.0%), the United States (44.0%) and China (37.4%), led by energy impact, followed by the European Union (28.1%), Japan (21.9%) and Vietnam (11.5%), making Australia the largest trading partner.
In terms of export growth, Taiwan (61.4%), Japan (51.9%), European Union (42.1%), United States (37.1%), China (30.9%) and Vietnam (15.0%), followed by Taiwan (15.0%).
The increase in exports was led by petroleum products (128.7%) and ships (93.5%), followed by precision instruments (26.7%), semiconductors (23.9%), passenger cars (10.5%) and wireless communication devices (2.6%).
Jeremy Zuk, who is in charge of national credit ratings in the Asia-Pacific region, said on the 20th, “Korea’s government debt has increased by 6% of GDP. In the mid-to-long term, he said in the '2021 Fitch on Korea' webinar, "If the national debt rises, it will affect the ability to respond to the problem of an aging population."
He predicted that next year's economic growth would be 3% for Korea, lower than the US's 3.9%, Eurozone's 4.5%, and China's 5.2%.
This year, Korea is expected to have a form similar to the twin deficit, where the deficit and trade deficit caused by Reaganomics, a supply advantage in the 1980s, meet.