How dependent is South Korea on China?

and 314 more

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%.

• China sells 46.2% of what the world exports of cameras and broadcast equipment; next come Vietnam (13.1%), Taiwan (4.4%) and India (4.3%). The rest of the world exported 49.9 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 50.8% of what the world exports of batteries; next come United States (5.4%), Poland (5.4%) and Germany (4.7%). The rest of the world exported 15.4 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 38.7% of what the world exports of computers; next come Taiwan (14.2%), Mexico (12.6%) and Vietnam (7%). The rest of the world exported 66.5 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 20.3% of what the world exports of cables and wire; next come Mexico (11.1%), United States (6%) and Germany (5.3%). The rest of the world exported 56.2 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 29.7% of what the world exports of steel structures; next come Germany (8.4%), Poland (4.7%) and Turkey (4.4%). The rest of the world exported 24.2 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 42.5% of what the world exports of lithium hydroxide and other metal oxides; next come United States (8%), Chile (7.7%) and Netherlands (3.9%). The rest of the world exported 2.7 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 32.9% of what the world exports of seats and chairs; next come Mexico (9.8%), Vietnam (8.1%) and Poland (7.2%). The rest of the world exported 40.7 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 27.6% of what the world exports of coated flat steel; next come Germany (7.2%), Belgium (4.8%) and Japan (4.8%). The rest of the world exported 26.5 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 29.8% of what the world exports of sweaters and pullovers; next come Bangladesh (11.8%), Vietnam (7.7%) and Italy (6.1%). The rest of the world exported 32.7 times what South Korea buys from China.
• China sells 31.4% of what the world exports of worked stone; next come Italy (13.7%), Turkey (11.6%) and India (11.1%). The rest of the world exported 6.3 times what South Korea buys from China.

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

South Korea is China’s 6th-largest customer, with 3.9% of its exports.

• Trade between South Korea and China
• Who does South Korea rely on?
• Who does China rely on?
• Dependence of South Korea on the United States
• Dependence of South Korea on Australia
• Dependence of South Korea on Japan
• Dependence of South Korea on Vietnam
• Dependence of South Korea on Brazil
• Dependence of South Korea on Switzerland
• Dependence of South Korea on Mexico
• Trade profile of South Korea
• Trade profile of China
• 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.