South Korea’s reliance on trade climbed in 2017 for the first time in six years, data from the Bank of Korea showed Wednesday.
The share of the country‘s trade to its gross national income came to 84 percent last year, up 3.1 percentage points from the previous year. It is the first on-year increase since 2011.
The share had remained in the 60 to 70 percent range before jumping to 104.5 percent in 2008 in the wake of the global financial crisis. It further increased to 113.5 percent in 2011 before falling to 98.6 percent in 2014.
The latest spike derives from robust exports following global economic recovery and rise in oil prices, while showing Korea’s vulnerability to external factors. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)
