South Korean export market concentrated on specific industries: KERI
- 5 years ago
A new report is painting a concerning picture for the local export market.. saying that it's too concentrated on specific industries compared to other major exporters.
Ko Roon-hee explains.
There are growing concerns about South Korea's exports...with the total amount falling on-year for three consecutive months.
And a report released by the Korea Economic Research Institute on Tuesday also forecasts more gloom for exporters,... warning that shipments are concentrated in certain products like semiconductors.
South Korea's export product concentration index, which measures how much a country's exports rely on certain items, marked 137-point-2 last year.
This is up from 126-point-1 recorded in the previous year.
Compared to other countries, the index is high.
In the U.S., it was 63-point-6 and in Germany, 87-point-1.
Although the indices topped 1-hundred in Japan and China, they were both still lower than Korea's.
As for what's causing the high figure, the institute pointed to the technological advantage of South Korea's semiconductors,...which accounted for around a fifth of South Korea's total exports on average in 2018.
It's also reflective of South Korea's weakening manufacturing industry and its failure to discover new growth engines.
Relying on semiconductors can negatively affect the overall economy,... including impacting the number of jobs.
The report forecast that around 50-thousand jobs would be lost if semiconductor exports fall by 10-percent.
According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, the global chip market is expected to contract by three percent in 2019.
To turn things around, analysts point to the need to diversify export products...along with developing new industries and implementing policies related to innovative growth.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
Ko Roon-hee explains.
There are growing concerns about South Korea's exports...with the total amount falling on-year for three consecutive months.
And a report released by the Korea Economic Research Institute on Tuesday also forecasts more gloom for exporters,... warning that shipments are concentrated in certain products like semiconductors.
South Korea's export product concentration index, which measures how much a country's exports rely on certain items, marked 137-point-2 last year.
This is up from 126-point-1 recorded in the previous year.
Compared to other countries, the index is high.
In the U.S., it was 63-point-6 and in Germany, 87-point-1.
Although the indices topped 1-hundred in Japan and China, they were both still lower than Korea's.
As for what's causing the high figure, the institute pointed to the technological advantage of South Korea's semiconductors,...which accounted for around a fifth of South Korea's total exports on average in 2018.
It's also reflective of South Korea's weakening manufacturing industry and its failure to discover new growth engines.
Relying on semiconductors can negatively affect the overall economy,... including impacting the number of jobs.
The report forecast that around 50-thousand jobs would be lost if semiconductor exports fall by 10-percent.
According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, the global chip market is expected to contract by three percent in 2019.
To turn things around, analysts point to the need to diversify export products...along with developing new industries and implementing policies related to innovative growth.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.