South Korea’s exports broke the 700 billion U.S. dollar mark in 2025, reaching that level for the first time ever since the government was established in 1948.

According to the trade ministry and the Korea Customs Service, the year’s cumulative shipments tentatively reached 700 billion dollars as of 1:03 p.m. Monday.

The country’s exports hit 100 billion dollars for the first time in 1995 and gradually increased, surpassing 500 billion dollars in 2011 and 600 billion dollars in 2018.

South Korea is only the sixth country in the world to post exports of more than 700 billion dollars, after the U.S., Germany, China, Japan and the Netherlands.

Though the outlook for exports was grim early this year due to U.S. tariffs and the expansion of trade protectionism, there was a turnaround in the trade environment amid restored market confidence and the tariff deal with the U.S. under the new government.

Semiconductors, automobiles, shipbuilding and biotech led the gains, and goods linked to the global popularity of K-content, such as food and beauty products, became new export engines.

The proportion of shipments to the U.S. and China declined, while market diversification efforts increased exports to Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Foreign direct investment overcame a 14-point-six-percent drop in performance during the year’s first half to reach a record 35 billion dollars, based on reporting in 2025, surpassing last year’s total of 34-point-six billion dollars.