More than 80% growth for four consecutive months since November
$589.06 million in imports… under $600 million in 17 months
A monthly trade surplus of $171.03 million
As the exports of pharmaceutical products surged and imports fell below $600 million in 17 months, the exports made a surplus again following last December.
According to the Korea International Trade Association, monthly exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products (SITC54) reached $766 million in February, up 90.6% YoY.
It has been growing more than 80% for four consecutive months since it recorded 80.5% growth in November last year.
Although it did not exceed $1 billion with a triple-digit growth rate in December of last year, it marked exports of more than $700 million for the third straight month.
In particular, despite the short business days in February due to the Lunar New Year holidays, exports increased from January.
On the contrary, imports, which had exceeded $700 million for five straight months since September last year, have been reduced to $589.06 million, down 5.9% YoY.
It has been only seven months since July last year that monthly imports of pharmaceutical products have decreased from the same period of the previous year, and 17 months since September 2019 that it has fallen below $600 million.
Amid such a significant increase in monthly exports, the monthly trade balance also succeeded in turning into a surplus in two months as imports declined.
Earlier, the pharmaceutical trade balance returned to a deficit of $7.5 million in January after posting a surplus of $244.71 million in December last year, but the trade balance also reached a surplus of $171.03 million as pharmaceutical imports fell sharply in February.
Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical trade balance recorded a surplus for the first time in September last year and again posted a surplus for two consecutive months in November and December.
However, in the recent change to the final figures, the trade balance in November was corrected to a deficit of $55.17 million, and the surplus in December, which exceeded $300 million, decreased to $244.71 million.
