South Korea sees 4% rise in first-time exporters in 2025

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean businesses that began exporting in 2025, defined as those with no prior export records in the preceding three years, saw a nearly 4 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to data released Monday by the Korea Customs Service.

In 2025, the total number of such companies reached 19,746, up from 19,041 in 2024. This marks the largest year-on-year growth in five years, injecting new energy into the nation's export sector, the agency stated.

The collective exports from these first-time exporters grew by 13.2 percent from the previous year, totaling $6.9 billion, which is the highest figure recorded since 2019. Machinery and computers constituted 10.9 percent of these new exporters, followed by electrical products at 8.5 percent and cosmetics at 7 percent. The average export value per company was $350,000, with 80 percent of these businesses exporting less than $100,000.