Optical, measuring and medical instruments: South Korea exports and imports

HS chapter 90 · 광학기기ㆍ사진용 기기ㆍ영화용 기기ㆍ측정기기ㆍ검사기기ㆍ정밀기기ㆍ의료용 기기, 이들의 부분품과 부속품 · latest month: October 2026

Exports, October 2026

$1.51B

-4.2% vs previous month

vs same month a year earlier

+18.6%

export value

Exports, last 12 months

$17.67B

+5.7% vs 12 months before

Imports, October 2026

$2.47B

Export value per kg

$96.47

net weight, October 2026

In October 2026, South Korea exported $1.51 billion of optical, measuring and medical instruments (HS 90), down 4.2% from September 2026 and up 18.6% from October 2025.

Over the 12 months to October 2026, exports of optical, measuring and medical instruments (HS 90) totalled $17.67 billion, up 5.7% from the 12 months before ($16.71 billion).

The largest destination over the 12 months to October 2026 was China ($4.69 billion, 26.5% of the total), followed by the United States and Vietnam.

That was 1.7% of South Korea's total goods exports over the same 12 months.

Imports in October 2026 were $2.47 billion (up 29.5% from October 2025), leaving a deficit of $965.6 million for the month.

Official description of HS 90: Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof.

Last 24 months

Monthly exportsExport value in US dollars (FOB).

Monthly importsImport value in US dollars (CIF).

Headings under chapter 90

Code	Product	Exports, 12 months	Share	vs 12 months before	October 2026
9031	Measuring or checking instruments and machines	$3.90B	22.1%	+3.3%	$304.5M
9018	Medical, surgical and dental instruments	$3.08B	17.4%	+11.7%	$270.9M
9001	Optical fibres, polarising sheets and lenses	$2.24B	12.7%	-12.8%	$166.0M
9030	Instruments for measuring electrical quantities	$1.75B	9.9%	+39.1%	$182.9M
9032	Automatic regulating or controlling instruments and apparatus	$1.46B	8.2%	+21.6%	$130.1M
9021	Orthopaedic appliances, artificial body parts and hearing aids	$1.12B	6.3%	+5.8%	$98.7M
9022	X-ray and radiation apparatus	$1.04B	5.9%	+9.7%	$79.6M
9027	Instruments for physical or chemical analysis	$744.5M	4.2%	+8.6%	$53.9M
9013	Lasers and other optical appliances	$546.5M	3.1%	+8.9%	$48.5M
9026	Instruments for measuring flow, level or pressure	$323.4M	1.8%	+5.1%	$33.5M
9002	Mounted lenses, prisms and other optical elements	$284.9M	1.6%	-35.6%	$21.2M
9029	Revolution counters, production counters, taximeters, mileometers, etc.	$220.2M	1.2%	-15.1%	$20.8M
9025	Thermometers, hydrometers, barometers and hygrometers	$202.4M	1.1%	-5.2%	$16.9M
9012	Microscopes other than optical microscopes, etc.	$139.8M	0.8%	+6.3%	$13.1M
9004	Spectacles, goggles and the like, corrective, protective or other	$114.9M	0.7%	+14.5%	$13.5M
9014	Direction finding compasses, etc.	$97.6M	0.6%	+43.4%	$13.8M
9003	Frames and mountings for spectacles, goggles or the like, and parts thereof	$71.3M	0.4%	-0.5%	$6.6M
9019	Mechano-therapy appliances, etc.	$68.8M	0.4%	-2.3%	$6.3M
9023	Instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstrational purposes, etc.	$38.1M	0.2%	-12.8%	$2.7M
9024	Machines and appliances for testing the hardness, strength, compressibility, etc.	$30.4M	0.2%	-2.5%	$2.2M
9010	Apparatus and equipment for photographic laboratories not specified or included, etc.	$30.2M	0.2%	+2.4%	$3.5M
9011	Compound optical microscopes, including those for photomicrography, etc.	$28.4M	0.2%	+24.0%	$3.5M
9020	Other breathing appliances and gas masks, etc.	$28.1M	0.2%	-1.6%	$2.6M
9033	Parts and accessories for machines, appliances, etc.	$26.7M	0.2%	-5.4%	$2.3M
9015	Surveying, hydrographic, oceanographic, hydrological, etc.	$24.2M	0.1%	-17.7%	$3.2M
9028	Gas, liquid or electricity supply or production meters, etc.	$20.1M	0.1%	-30.1%	$1.6M
9017	Drawing, marking-out or mathematical calculating instruments, etc.	$16.6M	0.1%	-8.1%	$1.6M
9006	Photographic cameras, etc.	$12.7M	0.1%	-31.1%	$1.0M
9016	Balances of a sensitivity of 5 cg or better, with or without weights	$7.0M	0.0%	-3.8%	$856K
9005	Binoculars, monoculars, other optical telescopes, and mountings therefor, etc.	$1.6M	0.0%	-70.2%	$23K
9007	Cinematographic cameras and projectors, etc.	$1.2M	0.0%	-4.8%	$129K
9008	Image projectors, other than cinematographic, etc.	$260K	0.0%	+293.4%	$765

Top destinations

Export value over the 12 months to October 2026. 224 countries received this product from South Korea in the last 24 months; the table shows the largest 20.

Rank	Country	Exports, 12 months	Share	vs 12 months before	Rank before	October 2026
1	China	$4.69B	26.5%	-4.2%	1	$369.3M
2	United States	$2.41B	13.7%	+7.8%	2	$209.5M
3	Vietnam	$1.35B	7.6%	+10.0%	3	$96.7M
4	Japan	$965.6M	5.5%	+7.5%	4	$88.4M
5	India	$829.9M	4.7%	+7.1%	5	$87.5M
6	Taiwan	$666.0M	3.8%	+11.3%	6	$64.8M
7	Mexico	$448.8M	2.5%	+20.5%	8	$31.2M
8	Germany	$408.2M	2.3%	+17.7%	9	$33.7M
9	Singapore	$395.4M	2.2%	+32.4%	11	$38.4M
10	Hong Kong	$358.0M	2.0%	+7.2%	10	$30.5M
11	Malaysia	$344.5M	2.0%	+61.1%	16	$37.9M
12	Brazil	$310.6M	1.8%	+30.4%	14	$24.4M
13	Thailand	$304.2M	1.7%	+32.2%	15	$30.4M
14	Russia	$279.7M	1.6%	+0.1%	12	$17.3M
15	Netherlands	$269.4M	1.5%	-34.0%	7	$26.1M
16	Türkiye	$263.6M	1.5%	+41.4%	19	$20.5M
17	Slovakia	$215.5M	1.2%	-14.7%	13	$14.6M
18	Poland	$183.7M	1.0%	-13.5%	17	$13.6M
19	United Arab Emirates	$181.1M	1.0%	-8.7%	18	$20.2M
20	Philippines	$172.4M	1.0%	+34.7%	23	$18.9M

Countries are linked when exports of this product to them reached $1,000,000 over 24 months.

Monthly figures

Month	Exports	vs year earlier	Export weight	Export $/kg	Imports	Import weight
October 2026	$1.51B	+18.6%	15,614 t	$96.47	$2.47B	16,759 t
September 2026	$1.57B	-1.7%	15,662 t	$100.43	$2.46B	18,185 t
August 2026	$1.38B	+4.4%	14,487 t	$95.58	$2.24B	14,990 t
July 2026	$1.65B	+12.4%	17,250 t	$95.53	$2.41B	16,706 t
June 2026	$1.62B	+14.2%	15,974 t	$101.46	$2.48B	17,457 t
May 2026	$1.34B	+0.6%	14,229 t	$93.87	$2.03B	15,578 t
April 2026	$1.50B	+0.5%	15,908 t	$94.53	$2.48B	18,271 t
March 2026	$1.51B	+9.9%	14,925 t	$100.95	$2.47B	15,801 t
February 2026	$1.18B	-15.9%	13,468 t	$87.64	$1.97B	13,950 t
January 2026	$1.35B	+19.2%	15,648 t	$86.37	$2.07B	15,276 t
December 2025	$1.69B	+13.8%	19,821 t	$85.18	$2.58B	17,658 t
November 2025	$1.37B	-3.0%	15,008 t	$91.17	$1.96B	15,039 t
October 2025	$1.27B	-13.2%	13,469 t	$94.26	$1.91B	14,705 t
September 2025	$1.60B	+9.0%	16,433 t	$97.38	$2.31B	18,332 t
August 2025	$1.33B	-3.5%	14,839 t	$89.42	$2.00B	15,090 t
July 2025	$1.47B	+6.2%	16,675 t	$87.93	$2.10B	16,232 t
June 2025	$1.42B	+7.4%	15,295 t	$92.82	$2.08B	15,507 t
May 2025	$1.33B	-8.6%	15,389 t	$86.25	$1.91B	15,210 t
April 2025	$1.50B	+5.2%	16,261 t	$92.04	$2.10B	17,749 t
March 2025	$1.37B	-3.9%	15,617 t	$87.79	$2.12B	16,900 t
February 2025	$1.40B	+3.7%	17,660 t	$79.44	$1.93B	14,871 t
January 2025	$1.13B	-18.5%	15,346 t	$73.89	$1.75B	17,267 t
December 2024	$1.48B	-1.5%	18,687 t	$79.37	$2.35B	18,101 t
November 2024	$1.41B	-10.1%	17,162 t	$82.20	$1.93B	15,401 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.