Last year's exports were $683.8 billion 'the largest ever'...Trade balance surplus of 51.8 billion

Last year, Korea's exports reached 683.8 billion dollars, the highest ever, breaking the record in 2022 in two years.

As a result, the global export ranking as of January to September last year also rose two notches to sixth place from eighth place in 2023 and recorded the highest export growth among the top 10 exporters.

Imports fell 1.6% year-on-year to $632 billion as energy imports fell.

As a result, the annual trade balance reached a surplus of $51.8 billion last year, the largest surplus since 2018.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said last year, while oil prices stabilized downward unlike a year earlier, IT items such as semiconductors and key items such as ships and automobiles were evenly strong, leading to both record-high export performance and trade surplus.