South Korea exports to China

중국 · latest month: October 2026

Exports, October 2026

$27.00B

+3.7% vs previous month

vs same month a year earlier

+133.9%

export value

Exports, last 12 months

$223.34B

+73.5% vs 12 months before

Rank among destinations

of 239, last 12 months

Imports, last 12 months

$180.75B

balance $42.59B

In October 2026, South Korea exported $27.00 billion of goods to China, up 3.7% from September 2026 and up 133.9% from October 2025.

Over the 12 months to October 2026, exports of goods to China totalled $223.34 billion, up 73.5% from the 12 months before ($128.71 billion).

China ranked 1st of 239 destinations for Korean goods over the 12 months to October 2026, the same position as in the 12 months before.

The largest chapter was electrical machinery and electronics (HS 85), with $150.24 billion or 67.3% of exports to China.

Imports from China in October 2026 were $18.16 billion (up 60.0% from October 2025), leaving a surplus of $8.83 billion for the month.

Last 24 months

Monthly exportsExport value in US dollars (FOB).

Monthly importsImport value in US dollars (CIF).

What South Korea exports to China: chapters

Export value by HS chapter over the 12 months to October 2026; the largest 25 of 96.

Code	Product	Exports, 12 months	Share	vs 12 months before	October 2026
85	Electrical machinery and electronics	$150.24B	67.3%	+145.7%	$20.42B
84	Machinery, boilers and computers	$16.40B	7.3%	+25.0%	$1.63B
29	Organic chemicals	$10.09B	4.5%	-2.7%	$845.2M
39	Plastics and articles thereof	$8.61B	3.9%	-4.4%	$745.9M
90	Optical, measuring and medical instruments	$4.69B	2.1%	-4.2%	$369.3M
28	Inorganic chemicals	$4.15B	1.9%	+55.8%	$334.3M
27	Mineral fuels, oils and their products	$3.28B	1.5%	-6.0%	$351.9M
74	Copper and articles thereof	$3.18B	1.4%	+14.1%	$276.2M
38	Miscellaneous chemical products	$3.09B	1.4%	+8.4%	$257.1M
33	Essential oils, perfumery and cosmetics	$1.96B	0.9%	-1.7%	$182.6M
72	Iron and steel	$1.78B	0.8%	-5.6%	$163.6M
73	Articles of iron or steel	$1.28B	0.6%	+17.3%	$101.6M
32	Dyes, pigments, paints and inks	$1.14B	0.5%	+8.3%	$99.8M
76	Aluminium and articles thereof	$1.08B	0.5%	+10.7%	$104.3M
87	Vehicles, parts and accessories	$1.03B	0.5%	-20.5%	$65.2M
70	Glass and glassware	$912.6M	0.4%	-15.6%	$83.2M
40	Rubber and articles thereof	$905.6M	0.4%	+2.9%	$82.7M
37	Photographic or cinematographic goods	$878.9M	0.4%	-3.1%	$70.9M
19	Preparations of cereals, flour or milk, and bakery products	$607.9M	0.3%	+17.3%	$60.4M
03	Fish, crustaceans and other seafood	$583.8M	0.3%	+45.6%	$49.3M
34	Soap, washing preparations and waxes	$579.3M	0.3%	+10.0%	$57.4M
25	Salt, sulphur, stone, lime and cement	$516.3M	0.2%	+138.5%	$51.2M
26	Ores, slag and ash	$402.6M	0.2%	+1.1%	$27.8M
62	Clothing, not knitted or crocheted	$364.8M	0.2%	+22.2%	$38.5M
71	Pearls, precious stones and precious metals	$352.9M	0.2%	+94.8%	$26.2M

Largest 4-digit headings

The 30 largest of 1026 headings exported to China in the same 12 months.

Code	Product	Exports, 12 months	Share	vs 12 months before	October 2026
8542	Electronic integrated circuits (semiconductor chips)	$127.16B	56.9%	+212.3%	$18.16B
8529	Parts for display modules, televisions and broadcasting equipment	$7.90B	3.5%	+15.2%	$877.6M
2902	Cyclic hydrocarbons	$6.17B	2.8%	+5.9%	$458.3M
8473	Parts and accessories for computers and office machines	$5.16B	2.3%	+155.5%	$486.3M
8486	Machines for making semiconductors and flat panel displays	$4.12B	1.8%	-7.6%	$478.3M
8523	Solid-state storage devices, discs and other recording media	$3.75B	1.7%	+167.3%	$353.9M
8524	Flat panel display modules	$3.59B	1.6%	-14.1%	$273.4M
2841	Salts of oxometallic or peroxometallic acids	$2.67B	1.2%	+44.8%	$216.1M
2710	Refined petroleum oils	$2.67B	1.2%	+10.7%	$275.3M
2901	Acyclic hydrocarbons	$2.45B	1.1%	-19.3%	$274.6M
3818	Doped chemical elements for electronics (wafers)	$1.93B	0.9%	+6.6%	$158.7M
3901	Polymers of ethylene, in primary forms	$1.73B	0.8%	-17.3%	$145.4M
3304	Beauty, make-up and skin care preparations	$1.69B	0.8%	-2.5%	$153.4M
9031	Measuring or checking instruments and machines	$1.51B	0.7%	-17.3%	$108.2M
8534	Printed circuits	$1.32B	0.6%	+17.3%	$127.0M
9001	Optical fibres, polarising sheets and lenses	$1.25B	0.6%	-12.5%	$84.8M
8408	Diesel engines	$1.17B	0.5%	+2.0%	$119.7M
3907	Polyethers, epoxide resins and polyesters, in primary forms	$1.12B	0.5%	+6.1%	$98.8M
7403	Refined copper and copper alloys, unwrought	$1.01B	0.5%	-20.2%	$72.6M
3902	Polymers of propylene, in primary forms	$996.8M	0.4%	+3.9%	$92.2M
8479	Machines and mechanical appliances with individual functions	$952.8M	0.4%	+13.9%	$90.4M
8541	Semiconductor devices, including solar cells and LEDs	$818.5M	0.4%	-11.0%	$71.1M
8708	Parts and accessories of motor vehicles	$810.3M	0.4%	-15.3%	$58.9M
3920	Plates, sheets and film of plastics, not reinforced	$804.0M	0.4%	-8.6%	$63.0M
7404	Copper waste and scrap	$766.6M	0.3%	+70.9%	$71.9M
3824	Miscellaneous chemical preparations	$762.7M	0.3%	+24.5%	$65.3M
3921	Other plates, sheets and film of plastics	$724.3M	0.3%	+25.9%	$72.3M
9030	Instruments for measuring electrical quantities	$715.7M	0.3%	+56.1%	$75.1M
8532	Electrical capacitors	$701.1M	0.3%	+16.4%	$78.2M
4002	Synthetic rubber	$697.4M	0.3%	+4.4%	$65.2M

A chapter is linked when exports to China reached $1,000,000 over 24 months, a heading when they reached $5,000,000. "Share" is the share of all exports to China.

Featured industry: cosmetics exports to China, by 6-digit product.

Monthly figures

Month	Exports	vs year earlier	Export weight	Export $/kg	Imports	Import weight
October 2026	$27.00B	+133.9%	2,025,178 t	$13.33	$18.16B	4,019,015 t
September 2026	$26.04B	+123.2%	2,011,234 t	$12.95	$19.29B	3,924,698 t
August 2026	$24.12B	+119.6%	1,948,583 t	$12.38	$15.33B	3,340,569 t
July 2026	$21.69B	+96.5%	2,310,026 t	$9.39	$16.29B	3,531,546 t
June 2026	$19.99B	+92.0%	1,842,896 t	$10.85	$16.38B	3,854,899 t
May 2026	$18.87B	+80.9%	1,558,165 t	$12.11	$15.10B	3,942,078 t
April 2026	$17.66B	+62.6%	1,728,373 t	$10.22	$15.59B	4,098,278 t
March 2026	$16.70B	+66.2%	2,476,832 t	$6.74	$14.12B	3,906,961 t
February 2026	$12.77B	+34.5%	2,395,705 t	$5.33	$11.64B	3,106,199 t
January 2026	$13.52B	+47.1%	2,662,267 t	$5.08	$13.18B	3,471,932 t
December 2025	$12.95B	+10.1%	2,662,396 t	$4.86	$13.72B	3,774,593 t
November 2025	$12.03B	+6.6%	2,542,045 t	$4.73	$11.96B	3,300,042 t
October 2025	$11.54B	-5.1%	2,726,055 t	$4.23	$11.35B	3,035,471 t
September 2025	$11.67B	+0.4%	2,771,163 t	$4.21	$13.50B	3,541,268 t
August 2025	$10.98B	-3.1%	2,489,971 t	$4.41	$11.55B	3,224,510 t
July 2025	$11.04B	-3.1%	2,712,955 t	$4.07	$12.41B	3,628,088 t
June 2025	$10.41B	-2.6%	2,456,325 t	$4.24	$11.49B	3,451,999 t
May 2025	$10.43B	-8.3%	2,560,066 t	$4.07	$11.34B	3,557,106 t
April 2025	$10.86B	+3.7%	2,702,105 t	$4.02	$12.50B	3,672,539 t
March 2025	$10.05B	-4.4%	2,407,102 t	$4.18	$11.37B	3,239,649 t
February 2025	$9.49B	-1.5%	2,506,738 t	$3.79	$9.48B	2,810,412 t
January 2025	$9.19B	-14.0%	2,394,571 t	$3.84	$11.20B	3,111,516 t
December 2024	$11.77B	+8.4%	2,841,625 t	$4.14	$12.38B	3,672,484 t
November 2024	$11.28B	-0.4%	2,697,872 t	$4.18	$11.44B	3,291,480 t

Exports FOB, imports CIF, US dollars. Weight is net weight. "vs year earlier" compares export value with the same month one year before and is left blank when that month was under $10,000. Source: Korea Customs Service, via data.go.kr.