Chip boom drives major firms' exports up 82% in a year

Aug 12, 2026, 09:58 am

Korean companies' exports surged nearly 60% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, driven especially by large corporations, whose exports jumped more than 80% and led the overall growth.

This reflects a more than twofold increase in exports of electrical and electronics products, including semiconductors.

According to the "Q2 2026 Trade Statistics by Enterprise Characteristics (Preliminary)" released by the National Statistics Office on the 11th, second-quarter exports totaled $275.5 billion, up 57.3% from the same period last year — the largest figure since related statistics began in 2015.

By company size, exports from large corporations reached $206 billion, up 81.8% from a year earlier. In contrast, mid-sized companies ($35.9 billion) grew just 10.9%, and small and medium-sized enterprises ($32.7 billion) grew 13.1%. This is attributed to the fact that the semiconductor industry, which is driving export growth, is concentrated among large corporations.

Indeed, by industry, exports from the broad manufacturing sector including semiconductors reached $247.5 billion, up 64.9%. In particular, exports of electrical and electronics products ($160.4 billion) surged 109.8%. By product type, capital goods exports rose 87.1%, driven by semiconductors, while raw material exports rose 25.2%. Consumer goods exports, however, fell 0.5% due to declines in categories like automobiles.

By company size measured by number of employees, exports from companies with 250 or more employees reached $234.6 billion, up 67.4%, while companies with 10-249 employees and 1-9 employees saw exports rise 19.3% and 8.5%, respectively.

As export growth concentrated among large corporations and the electronics sector, export concentration also rose sharply. The share of total exports accounted for by the top 10 companies (trade concentration ratio) reached 55.3%, up 17.0 percentage points from the same period last year. The share held by the top 100 companies also rose 10.0 percentage points, to 76.3%.

Lee Ji-hoon

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