How dependent is Japan on South Korea?

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• South Korea sells 7.4% of what the world exports of silver; next come China (16.7%), Mexico (10.1%) and United Arab Emirates (6.9%). The rest of the world exported 28.4 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 9% of what the world exports of hot-rolled flat steel; next come China (28.1%), Germany (4.5%) and Belgium (3.7%). The rest of the world exported 63.4 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 10.3% of what the world exports of coated flat steel; next come China (27.6%), Germany (7.2%) and Belgium (4.8%). The rest of the world exported 62.6 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 14.8% of what the world exports of cold-rolled flat steel; next come China (18.5%), Belgium (6.6%) and Taiwan (5.5%). The rest of the world exported 30.6 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 1.1% of what the world exports of semi-finished steel; next come Russia (19.8%), Brazil (11.9%) and China (10.7%). The rest of the world exported 201.3 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 7.2% of what the world exports of coal tar oils; next come United States (10.3%), Netherlands (8.4%) and India (8.4%). The rest of the world exported 223.9 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 7.9% of what the world exports of alloy steel sheet; next come China (16.4%), Germany (11%) and United States (7%). The rest of the world exported 194.1 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 5.9% of what the world exports of welded steel pipes; next come Italy (14.9%), China (14.6%) and Germany (6.5%). The rest of the world exported 213.4 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 3.3% of what the world exports of uncoated narrow steel strip; next come Germany (23.1%), Italy (10.9%) and United States (8.5%). The rest of the world exported 90.7 times what Japan buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 6.6% of what the world exports of alloy steel wire rod; next come China (25.9%), Germany (11%) and Canada (6.3%). The rest of the world exported 69.7 times what Japan buys from South Korea.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

Japan is South Korea’s 7th-largest customer, with 3.8% of its exports.

• Trade between Japan and South Korea
• Who does Japan rely on?
• Who does South Korea rely on?
• Dependence of Japan on China
• Dependence of Japan on Australia
• Dependence of Japan on the United States
• Dependence of Japan on Taiwan
• Dependence of Japan on Indonesia
• Dependence of Japan on South Africa
• Dependence of Japan on Switzerland
• Dependence of Japan on the Philippines
• Dependence of Japan on Brazil
• Dependence of Japan on Malaysia
• Dependence of Japan on Thailand
• Trade profile of Japan
• Trade profile of South Korea
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.