01Key Takeaways
- South Korea imported $642.55 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 12.1% from $731.36 billion in 2022, pulling back from a five-year peak.
- Mineral fuels topped import categories at 26.7% of the total ($171.35 billion), reflecting South Korea's near-total reliance on imported oil and gas.
- China supplied 22.2% of imports ($142.85 billion), the largest single partner, followed by the USA at 11.2% ($71.73 billion).
- Saudi Arabia ranked fifth among partners at 5.1% ($32.76 billion), a figure tied directly to South Korea's crude oil import needs.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $503.3B | $467.6B | $615.1B | $731.4B | $642.5B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $142.9B | 22.2% |
| 2 | United States | $71.7B | 11.2% |
| 3 | Japan | $47.6B | 7.4% |
| 4 | Australia | $32.8B | 5.1% |
| 5 | Saudi Arabia | $32.8B | 5.1% |
| 6 | Vietnam | $25.9B | 4.0% |
| 7 | Other Asia, nes | $24.4B | 3.8% |
| 8 | Germany | $23.6B | 3.7% |
| 9 | United Arab Emirates | $16.4B | 2.6% |
| 10 | Malaysia | $15.2B | 2.4% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $171.4B | 26.7% |
| 2 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $119.5B | 18.6% |
| 3 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $63.1B | 9.8% |
| 4 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $22.1B | 3.4% |
| 5 | Optical, Photographic, Cinematographic, Measuring, Checking, Precision, Medical or Surgical Instruments and Apparatus; Parts and Accessories thereof | $22.0B | 3.4% |
| 6 | Inorganic Chemicals; Organic or Inorganic Compounds of Precious Metals, of Rare-Earth Metals, of Radioactive Elements or of Isotopes | $21.5B | 3.3% |
| 7 | Ores, Slag and Ash | $19.7B | 3.1% |
| 8 | Iron and Steel | $16.5B | 2.6% |
| 9 | Organic Chemicals | $13.6B | 2.1% |
| 10 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $12.7B | 2.0% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Imports Pulled Back After a 2022 Peak
South Korea imported $642.55 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 12.1% from $731.36 billion in 2022. That 2022 total was the high point of the past five years, and the 12.1% pullback that followed is sharper than the 7.6% decline already seen on the export side of Korean trade, covered in the companion data for this country.
Imports stood at $503.26 billion in 2019, then fell to $467.59 billion in 2020 as the pandemic disrupted global trade. Recovery followed quickly. The total climbed to $615.07 billion in 2021 and jumped further to $731.36 billion in 2022, before easing back to $642.55 billion in 2023. Falling global energy prices explain much of that steeper import decline, since fuel imports make up such a large share of the total described below. A weaker technology cycle also played a role, reducing demand for the semiconductor materials and components that make up South Korea's second-largest import category. Two of the country's biggest cost lines eased at the same time, which helps explain why the overall import decline outpaced the export decline in the same year.
Mineral Fuels Dominate an Import List With No Domestic Oil Production
Mineral fuels led every import category in 2023, worth $171.35 billion, or 26.7% of the total, more than any other category by a wide margin. South Korea has no meaningful domestic oil production and imports roughly 70% of its crude from the Middle East, a dependency that shows up directly in the partner data below. Electrical machinery followed at 18.6% ($119.48 billion), a category that largely reflects raw semiconductor materials and components feeding South Korea's own chip industry, covered in more depth in the companion export data for this country.
Machinery and mechanical appliances added 9.8% ($63.07 billion), and vehicles contributed a comparatively modest 3.4% ($22.13 billion), reflecting how much of the country's own vehicle demand its domestic automakers already cover. Optical and measuring instruments added a nearly identical 3.4% ($21.96 billion), and inorganic chemicals, which include rare earth compounds used in semiconductor manufacturing, contributed 3.3% ($21.52 billion). Ores, slag and ash added 3.1% ($19.71 billion), largely iron ore feeding South Korea's steel industry. Iron and steel itself added 2.6% ($16.47 billion), and organic chemicals contributed 2.1% ($13.57 billion). Plastics closed out the top ten at 2.0% ($12.71 billion).
Two distinct dependencies run through this list. One is energy, since South Korea has essentially no fossil fuel resources of its own. The other is industrial raw material, iron ore and rare earth compounds among them, feeding a manufacturing base that turns those inputs into some of the exact export categories that top the companion export data for this country.
China Supplies More Than a Fifth of South Korea's Imports
China supplied 22.2% of South Korea's imports in 2023, worth $142.85 billion, the largest single partner by a wide margin. The United States followed at 11.2% ($71.73 billion), and Japan added 7.4% ($47.65 billion). Together, those three suppliers made up 40.8% of total import value.
Australia added 5.1% ($32.82 billion), largely iron ore and coal feeding the industrial categories described above, and Saudi Arabia contributed a nearly identical 5.1% ($32.76 billion), directly tied to South Korea's crude oil dependency. Vietnam added 4.0% ($25.94 billion), a reverse flow of the same Samsung manufacturing relationship covered in the companion export data for this country. A regional catch-all category covering smaller Asian markets not tracked individually contributed 3.8% ($24.37 billion), and Germany added 3.7% ($23.61 billion). The United Arab Emirates contributed 2.6% ($16.42 billion), another Middle Eastern energy supplier, and Malaysia closed out the top ten at 2.4% ($15.24 billion).
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates together account for a meaningful share of this list almost entirely because of crude oil, while Australia's presence traces back to raw materials rather than energy. Reading the partner list alongside the category list turns what would otherwise be an unexplained ranking into a fairly direct map of where each major input actually comes from.
Taken together, South Korea's 2023 import data describes a resource-poor manufacturing giant. It buys energy from the Middle East and raw materials from Australia. It sources semiconductor inputs and components from a broad set of Asian, European and North American suppliers to keep its own world-leading export industries running. Almost nothing on this list looks like a finished consumer product, since most of it exists to feed factories rather than households.