Economic structure to remain sound despite rising global headwinds
A1
LOW RISK for enterprise
-
Economic risk
-
Business environment risk
-
Political risk
-
Commercial risk
-
Financing risk
-
Economic risk
-
Business environment risk
-
Political risk
-
Commercial risk
-
Financing risk
Last updated in January 2024.
Swipe to view more
GDP | USD 1665bn (World ranking 13, World Bank 2022) |
Population | 51.6mn (World ranking 29, World Bank 2022) |
Form of state | Presidential Republic |
Head of government | Yoon Suk-Yeol (President) |
Next elections | April 2024, legislative |
- 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
- Elevated household debt
- Slowly improving but still weak corporate governance
- Aging population
Trade structure by destination/origin
(% of total, 2022)
Exports | Rank | Imports |
---|---|---|
China
22.8%
|
1 |
21.3%
China
|
United States
16.1%
|
2 |
11.3%
United States
|
Vietnam
8.9%
|
3 |
7.5%
Japan
|
Japan
4.5%
|
4 |
6.2%
Australia
|
China, Hong Kong SAR
4.0%
|
5 |
5.7%
Saudi Arabia
|
Trade structure by product
(% of total, 2022)
Exports | Rank | Imports |
---|---|---|
Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s.
21%
|
1 |
18%
Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials
|
Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials
10.6%
|
2 |
12.1%
Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s.
|
Road vehicles
10.5%
|
3 |
11.2%
Gas, natural and manufactured
|
Office machines and automatic data processing machines
5.9%
|
4 |
4.0%
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap
|
Organic chemicals
5.6%
|
5 |
3.9%
Coal, coke and briquettes
|