Smartphones lead hike in high-end Imports

A short, but very interesting article in this morning's Joongang Daily is titled, "Smartphones lead hike in high-end imports."  According to the Korea Customs Service, imports of mobile phones surged by 149 percent last year to $137.04 million, largely due to smartphones.  The Apple iPhone, released in Korea late last year, was responsible for most of this effect, as 72 percent of the mobile phone imports occurred in the fourth quarter of last year.  Moreover, imports of mobile phones rose by another 369 percent in the first quarter of this year from the same period a year ago.

Growth in other high-end imports is shown in the accompanying graphic (click to see a full size version of the graphic).

Korea's Dependence on Foreign Trade

One reads a great deal about South Korea's export-led economic growth and its dependence on foreign trade.  Nonetheless, I was struck by today's article in The Korea Times that graphically quantified Korea's dependence on exports.  Last year, imports and exports made up 92.3 percent of the Korean economy, breaching the 90 percent level for the first time.  Exports accounted for 45.4 percent of the national income, while imports made up 46.9 percent.

Such dependence on foreign trade is inevitable for an economy like Korea.  Other Asian economies depend even more heavily on trade.  Last year Singapore saw its ratio record 361.7 percent followed by Hong Kong with 348.4 percent.   Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan also had ratios higher than South Korea.

I would only add that ICT exports and imports play a very important role in this overall picture.  It would be nice to break out the ICT sector to see just how things stand.