How does South Korea rank for merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit?

South Korea ranks 56th out of 202 countries with data for 2023.

Is merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit rising or falling in South Korea?

Over the last ten years it is down 10.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) … unit in South Korea

Name: Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) … unit in South Korea
Creator: Statizoid (derived)
License: Derived by Statizoid from the sources named on the page

South Korea: Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) … unit was 0.3427 current US$ per US$ of GDP in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

0.3427 current US$ per US$ of GDP

Change on year

down 9.7%

World rank

56th

of 202 countries

All-time high

0.4183 current US$ per US$ of GDP

in 2011

All-time low

0.0076 current US$ per US$ of GDP

in 1960

Years of data

1960–2023

Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$), per unit in South Korea, 1960–2023

Source: Statizoid (derived). Measured in current US$ per US$ of GDP.

Analysis

South Korea recorded 0.3427 current US$ per US$ of GDP for merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit in 2023.

That represents a change of down 9.7% on the previous year and down 10.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit in South Korea peaked at 0.4183 current US$ per US$ of GDP in 2011 and was at its lowest, 0.0076 current US$ per US$ of GDP, in 1960.

That places South Korea 56th out of 202 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.

Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) … unit in South Korea, year by year

Annual values for Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$), per unit of GDP in South Korea, 1960 to 2023.
Year	current US$ per US$ of GDP	Change
1960	0.0076 current US$ per US$ of GDP	—
1961	0.0156 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+105.6%
1962	0.0172 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+10.4%
1963	0.0181 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+5.2%
1964	0.0326 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+80.3%
1965	0.0525 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+61.1%
1966	0.0598 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+13.9%
1967	0.0633 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+5.8%
1968	0.0724 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+14.4%
1969	0.0784 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+8.2%
1970	0.0898 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+14.5%
1971	0.104 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+15.9%
1972	0.1423 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+36.8%
1973	0.219 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+53.9%
1974	0.2114 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-3.5%
1975	0.2073 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-2.0%
1976	0.2494 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+20.3%
1977	0.2542 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+1.9%
1978	0.2359 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-7.2%
1979	0.2183 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-7.5%
1980	0.2503 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+14.7%
1981	0.2706 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+8.1%
1982	0.2581 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-4.6%
1983	0.2594 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+0.5%
1984	0.2822 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+8.8%
1985	0.2795 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-1.0%
1986	0.2802 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+0.2%
1987	0.3033 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+8.2%
1988	0.2879 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-5.1%
1989	0.231 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-19.8%
1990	0.2114 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-8.5%
1991	0.2052 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-2.9%
1992	0.2046 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-0.3%
1993	0.2009 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-1.8%
1994	0.1989 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-1.0%
1995	0.2117 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+6.4%
1996	0.2036 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-3.8%
1997	0.2306 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+13.3%
1998	0.3333 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+44.5%
1999	0.2777 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-16.7%
2000	0.2869 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+3.3%
2001	0.2631 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-8.3%
2002	0.2479 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-5.8%
2003	0.264 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+6.5%
2004	0.3068 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+16.2%
2005	0.2909 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-5.2%
2006	0.2956 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+1.6%
2007	0.3018 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+2.1%
2008	0.3818 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+26.5%
2009	0.3581 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-6.2%
2010	0.3838 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+7.2%
2011	0.4183 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+9.0%
2012	0.4064 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-2.8%
2013	0.3843 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-5.4%
2014	0.3619 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-5.8%
2015	0.3368 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-6.9%
2016	0.3094 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-8.1%
2017	0.3282 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+6.1%
2018	0.3319 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+1.1%
2019	0.3098 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-6.7%
2020	0.2939 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-5.1%
2021	0.3317 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+12.9%
2022	0.3798 current US$ per US$ of GDP	+14.5%
2023	0.3427 current US$ per US$ of GDP	-9.7%

South Korea compared with similar countries

South Korea's 0.3427 current US$ per US$ of GDP is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.2644 current US$ per US$ of GDP, 1.3× the median. (73 countries reporting)
South Korea's 0.3427 current US$ per US$ of GDP is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.1887 current US$ per US$ of GDP, 1.8× the median. (35 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) … unit in South Korea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

Year	Change	From	To
1961	+105.6%	0.0076 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.0156 current US$ per US$ of GDP
1964	+80.3%	0.0181 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.0326 current US$ per US$ of GDP

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	0.0418 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.0076 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.0784 current US$ per US$ of GDP	10
1970s	0.1932 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.0898 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.2542 current US$ per US$ of GDP	10
1980s	0.2702 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.231 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.3033 current US$ per US$ of GDP	10
1990s	0.2278 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.1989 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.3333 current US$ per US$ of GDP	10
2000s	0.2997 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.2479 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.3818 current US$ per US$ of GDP	10
2010s	0.3571 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.3094 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.4183 current US$ per US$ of GDP	10
2020s	0.337 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.2939 current US$ per US$ of GDP	0.3798 current US$ per US$ of GDP	4

Countries ranked near South Korea

53 Armenia 0.3529 current US$ per US$ of GDP compare
54 Papua New Guinea 0.3523 current US$ per US$ of GDP compare
55 Belarus 0.3486 current US$ per US$ of GDP compare
57 Sudan 0.3393 current US$ per US$ of GDP compare
58 Sweden 0.3366 current US$ per US$ of GDP compare
59 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.3341 current US$ per US$ of GDP compare

See the full ranking of 249 places →

More private sector data for South Korea

Merchandise trade 71.6% (2025)
Food imports 6.5% (2025)
Manufactures imports 62.1% (2025)
Merchandise imports 631.89 billion current US$ (2025)
Commercial service imports 183.44 billion current US$ (2025)
Food exports 1.7% (2025)
Manufactures exports 88.0% (2025)
Merchandise exports 709.33 billion current US$ (2025)
Commercial service exports 149.31 billion current US$ (2025)
Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 13,724 current US$ per person (2025)

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit in South Korea?: Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit in South Korea was 0.3427 current US$ per US$ of GDP in 2023, according to Statizoid (derived).
What is the highest merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit recorded in South Korea?: The highest recorded value was 0.4183 current US$ per US$ of GDP in 2011.
What is the lowest merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit recorded in South Korea?: The lowest recorded value was 0.0076 current US$ per US$ of GDP in 1960.
How does South Korea rank for merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit?: South Korea ranks 56th out of 202 countries with data for 2023.
Is merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current us$), per unit rising or falling in South Korea?: Over the last ten years it is down 10.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Korea data come from?: The figures come from Statizoid (derived), published as part of Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$), per unit of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$), per unit in South Korea. Statizoid, drawing on Statizoid (derived). Retrieved 07 November 2026, from https://private-sector.statizoid.com/stat/merchandise-exports-by-the-reporting-economy-current-us-per-unit-of-gdp/korea-rep/

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How this figure is calculated

Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) divided by GDP (current US$), matched on country and year. Neither publisher issues this ratio as a series; it is computed here from both.

Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) ÷ GDP (current US$)

Computed from

Merchandise exports by the reporting economy Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks

Statizoid computes this series; the underlying measurements belong to the publishers named above. The arithmetic is applied to every country and year where both inputs report, and nothing is estimated unless the page says so.

About this data

Indicator: Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$), per unit of GDP
Unit: current US$ per US$ of GDP
Source: Statizoid (derived)
Licence: Derived by Statizoid from the sources named on the page
Coverage: 249 places, 12,888 data points, 1960–2023
Last refreshed: 21 August 2026

Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) divided by GDP (current US$), matched on country and year. Neither publisher issues this ratio as a series; it is computed here from both.