Exports by conglomerates up 6 pct in 2022: data

Economy 12:00 May 23, 2023

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- Exports by South Korean conglomerates rose 6 percent on-year in 2022, led by mining and manufacturing sectors, data showed Tuesday.

Outbound shipments by large-sized companies reached US$444.7 billion in 2022, compared with $419.4 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and the Korea Customs Service.

Conglomerates accounted for less than 1 percent, or 932, of 95,015 exporters tallied in the year, the data showed.

Exports by medium-sized businesses came to US$124 billion, rising 11.8 percent over the period, while those of small companies edged up 0.5 percent to $113.3 billion.

Shipments by the 10 leading companies took up 35.6 percent of the total in 2022, up 0.1 percentage point from 2021.

In 2022, South Korea's total exports came to $682.1 billion, up 6.1 percent on-year on the back of the post-pandemic recovery.

Companies in the mining and manufacturing sectors accounted for 84.1 percent of exports last year, trailed by wholesale firms with 12.1 percent and others with 3.8 percent.