South Korea's trade, month by month
Korea Trade Data turns the Korea Customs Service's official export and import statistics into plain English pages: 96 product chapters, 1,227 four-digit headings and 249 partner countries, plus a page for each major product–country flow and a report for every month.
October 2026 at a glance
In October 2026, South Korea exported $115.38 billion of goods, down 4.8% from September 2026 and up 93.9% from October 2025.
Over the 12 months to October 2026, exports of goods totalled $1.06 trillion, up 52.2% from the 12 months before ($696.41 billion).
The largest destination over the 12 months to October 2026 was China ($223.34 billion, 21.1% of the total), followed by the United States and Vietnam.
Imports in October 2026 were $72.73 billion (up 35.9% from October 2025), leaving a surplus of $42.65 billion for the month.
Last 24 months
Top destinations
Export value over the 12 months to October 2026, compared with the 12 months before.
| Rank | Country | Exports, 12 months | Share | vs 12 months before | Rank before | October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $223.34B | 21.1% | +73.5% | 1 | $27.00B |
| 2 | United States | $199.47B | 18.8% | +63.0% | 2 | $24.99B |
| 3 | Vietnam | $91.69B | 8.6% | +49.9% | 3 | $8.35B |
| 4 | Hong Kong | $79.31B | 7.5% | +146.6% | 5 | $6.44B |
| 5 | Taiwan | $75.80B | 7.1% | +59.9% | 4 | $8.77B |
| 6 | Japan | $32.55B | 3.1% | +13.5% | 6 | $3.19B |
| 7 | Singapore | $29.81B | 2.8% | +52.8% | 7 | $3.83B |
| 8 | India | $25.28B | 2.4% | +32.0% | 8 | $2.72B |
| 9 | Malaysia | $24.80B | 2.3% | +118.7% | 11 | $3.47B |
| 10 | Philippines | $24.30B | 2.3% | +121.5% | 12 | $3.81B |
Largest product chapters
| Code | Product | Exports, 12 months | Share | vs 12 months before | October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | Electrical machinery and electronics | $469.84B | 44.3% | +108.8% | $54.54B |
| 84 | Machinery, boilers and computers | $157.34B | 14.8% | +89.7% | $21.50B |
| 87 | Vehicles, parts and accessories | $90.57B | 8.5% | -1.6% | $8.09B |
| 27 | Mineral fuels, oils and their products | $66.58B | 6.3% | +40.1% | $7.26B |
| 39 | Plastics and articles thereof | $35.78B | 3.4% | +4.5% | $3.12B |
| 89 | Ships and boats | $30.79B | 2.9% | +0.3% | $2.46B |
| 72 | Iron and steel | $23.13B | 2.2% | -0.7% | $2.03B |
| 29 | Organic chemicals | $20.43B | 1.9% | +6.1% | $1.77B |
| 90 | Optical, measuring and medical instruments | $17.67B | 1.7% | +5.7% | $1.51B |
| 71 | Pearls, precious stones and precious metals | $14.48B | 1.4% | +109.8% | $879.1M |
| 33 | Essential oils, perfumery and cosmetics | $13.95B | 1.3% | +29.0% | $1.37B |
| 28 | Inorganic chemicals | $10.88B | 1.0% | +24.5% | $1.01B |
Featured industry: Cosmetics
In October 2026, South Korea exported $1.42 billion of cosmetics, down 5.9% from September 2026 and up 54.5% from October 2025. The cosmetics section goes down to 6- and 10-digit codes by country.
How to read these numbers
- Values are in US dollars. Exports are counted FOB (the value when the goods leave Korea) and imports CIF (including insurance and freight to Korea), so the two are not measured in exactly the same way.
- Weights are net weight in kilograms, without packaging. "$/kg" is export value divided by net weight; it moves with the mix of goods as well as with prices.
- Products follow HS codes. Chapters have 2 digits and headings 4. The first 6 digits are international; the full 10 digits are South Korea's own subdivision.
- Numbers can change. The source revises earlier months, and this site re-downloads recent months at every update.