How dependent is Vietnam 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 12.9% of what the world exports of makeup and skin care; next come France (18.9%), United States (9.7%) and China (6.9%). The rest of the world exported 130.1 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 13.2% of what the world exports of other clothing accessories (not knitted); next come China (27.1%), Italy (13.1%) and France (4.1%). The rest of the world exported 8.9 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 2.3% of what the world exports of thermometers, barometers and hygrometers; next come China (21%), United States (12.9%) and Germany (11.1%). The rest of the world exported 110.2 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 4.8% of what the world exports of other animal fats and oils; next come Netherlands (19.3%), New Zealand (13.8%) and Germany (11.2%). The rest of the world exported 64.6 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 31.1% of what the world exports of nitric and sulfonitric acids; next come Belgium (16%), Germany (15.9%) and Poland (3.8%). The rest of the world exported 47.4 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 8.1% of what the world exports of sulfuric acid; next come China (14.5%), Canada (8.5%) and Japan (8.1%). The rest of the world exported 377.9 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 2.8% of what the world exports of sulfur; next come United Arab Emirates (19.7%), Kazakhstan (18.2%) and Saudi Arabia (10.7%). The rest of the world exported 1,055.3 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 6.7% of what the world exports of base metals or silver clad with gold, semi-manufactured; next come Mozambique (22.2%), Germany (10.1%) and United States (10.1%). The rest of the world exported 15.1 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 5.6% of what the world exports of dust and powder of precious and semi-precious stones; next come China (52.9%), United States (10.7%) and Ireland (9%). The rest of the world exported 149.7 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.
• South Korea sells 3.9% of what the world exports of developed photographic plates and film; next come United States (45.4%), Japan (17.9%) and Taiwan (13%). The rest of the world exported 1,078.9 times what Vietnam buys from South Korea.

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

Vietnam is South Korea’s 3rd-largest customer, with 7.6% of its exports.

• Trade between Vietnam and South Korea
• Who does Vietnam rely on?
• Who does South Korea rely on?
• Dependence of Vietnam on China
• Dependence of Vietnam on Argentina
• Dependence of Vietnam on Cambodia
• Dependence of Vietnam on Indonesia
• Dependence of Vietnam on Hong Kong
• Dependence of Vietnam on Australia
• Dependence of Vietnam on India
• Dependence of Vietnam on the United States
• Dependence of Vietnam on Japan
• Dependence of Vietnam on Thailand
• Dependence of Vietnam on Singapore
• Dependence of Vietnam on Germany
• Trade profile of Vietnam
• 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.