Last updated in February 2022.

SOUTH KOREA
Walking the policy normalization tightrope
A1
LOW RISK for enterprise
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Economic risk
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Business environment risk
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Political risk
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Commercial risk
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Financing risk
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Economic risk
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Business environment risk
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Political risk
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Commercial risk
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Financing risk
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GDP | USD1799bn (World ranking 10, World Bank 2021) |
Population | 51.7mn (World ranking 28, World Bank 2021) |
Form of state | Democratic Republic |
Head of government | Yoon Seok-youl (President) |
Next elections | 2027, presidential |

- Advanced economy with high per capita income
- Sound financial sector
- Solid external position (low external debt, ample foreign exchange reserves, etc.)
- Strong business environment
- Firmly established democracy

- Geopolitical risk stemming from North Korea
- Economic vulnerabilities due to dependency on external demand
- Slowly improving but still weak corporate governance
- Aging population
Trade structure by destination/origin
(% of total, 2021)
Exports | Rank | Imports |
---|---|---|
China
25.3%
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1 |
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United States
14.9%
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2 |
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Vietnam
8.8%
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3 |
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China, Hong Kong SAR
5.8%
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4 |
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Japan
4.7%
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5 |
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Trade structure by product
(% of total, 2021)
Exports | Rank | Imports |
---|---|---|
Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s.
24.1%
|
1 |
13.9%
Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials
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Road vehicles
10.4%
|
2 |
13.3%
Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s.
|
Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials
7.3%
|
3 |
8.0%
Gas, natural and manufactured
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Office machines and automatic data processing machines
5.9%
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4 |
5.1%
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap
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Iron and steel
5.1%
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5 |
4.0%
Office machines and automatic data processing machines
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