South Korea's IT exports have fallen for five consecutive years
Previously, South Korea’s IT industry exports grew at an average annual rate of 7.9%, from $41.2 billion in 1996 to $220.4 billion in 2018.
However, excluding semiconductors, IT exports totaled $92.2 billion in 2018, down to levels before 2010. This figure has been declining since it reached $115 billion (131.27 trillion won) in 2013.
Of the 20 IT products that have recently grown in exports, there are only five, excluding semiconductor products. These five products include PCBs and measuring instruments. However, these five items accounted for only 8.2% of total IT exports last year.
In addition, the export of flat panel displays, one of the major IT export products, has also fallen sharply. They created a record of $39.3 billion (44.66 trillion won) in 2013, accounting for 7% of total exports, but this figure fell to $27.8 billion (31.59 trillion won) last year. Mobile phone exports have halved in the past three years, reaching $14.6 billion (16.59 trillion won) last year.