Data Recap: South Korea Imported Food Status in H1 2023

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety(MFDS)¹, the number of food imports to South Korea in the first half of 2023 was approximately 398 thousand cases, 9.22 million tons, and 1.87 billion dollars, representing a decrease of 0.4%, 3.9%, and 1.1%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The main reason for the decrease in import performance in the first half of this year is the decrease in the import quantity of agricultural and livestock products, which accounts for about half of the total import quantity.

1. Imported Food Categories and Items

In the first half of this year, the import quantities by category are as follows:

(Unit: case, million tons, million USD)

Category	2023 H1			2022 H1			YoY Growth
Category	Case	Weight	Value	Case	Weight	Value	Case	Weight	Value
Total	397,941	9.22	18,720.86	399,379	9.60	18,921.67	-0.4%	-3.9%	-1.1%
Agricultural and forest products	36,137	4.09	3,383.70	35,663	4.48	3,630.05	1.3%	-8.7%	-6.8%
Livestock products	63,603	0.95	4,626.41	62,320	0.92	5,018.33	2.1%	3.1%	-7.8%
Fishery products	44,158	0.53	2,782.40	43,929	0.63	2,500.84	0.5%	-15.1%	11.3%
Processed products	156,587	3.19	5,160.84	157,836	3.09	4,998.06	-0.8%	3.1%	3.3%
Health Functional Food	6,032	0.01	513.40	7,079	0.01	608.86	-14.8%	-9.5%	-15.7%
Food Additive	19,443	0.21	660.55	20,679	0.23	736.56	-6.0%	-7.2%	-10.3%
Utensils, containers, and packages	71,981	0.24	1,593.55	71,873	0.23	1,428.97	0.2%	1.9%	11.5%

Table 1. Import Status Based on Food Category in 2023 H1

In the first half of 2023, the major characteristics of imported foods by category are as follows:

(1) Agricultural and forest products, which accounted for the highest proportion of the total import quantity in the past years, had the largest proportion (44.4%, 4.09 million tons) among the categories in the first half of this year. However, its import quantity decreased by 8.7% compared to the previous period. In particular, the import quantity of corn, a major item, decreased significantly by 27.9%.

(2) The import quantity of processed food increased by 3.1% compared to the previous period, due to the recovery in the import of beer (up 27.4%) and kimchi (up 17.3%). The upward tendency of beer imported from the major beer-exporting countries such as the United States and Japan has also helped in the growth of processed food imports.

Figure 1. Import Status of Kimchi and Beer (unit: 10,000 tons)

figure-2-main-countries-of-origin-for-imported-beer-with-the-import-quantity-in-10000-tons.jpg

Figure 2. The Import Quantity of Main Countries of Origin of Imported Beer (unit: 10,000 tons)

(3) Livestock product has been showing a continuous increase in imports since 2020, with a YoY increase of 3.1% in quantity. The import quantity of chicken, a major item, increased by 55.1% compared to the previous period, due to Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) for livestock foods according to analysis.

(4) Fishery foods showed the largest decline of 15.1% compared to the previous period, mainly due to a sharp decrease of 51.8% in the import quantity of pollock, the top-ranked seafood item. On the other hand, seen from the data published by Korea Maritime Institute², the import quantity of squid increased significantly by 41.2% as the catch of squid on the East Coast decreased by 13,189 tons to 31,998 tons in the first half of this year.

(5) The import quantity of health functional food, which had been steadily increasing with an average annual growth rate of 14.0% in the past four years, showed a reversal to a decrease of 9.5%. This is mainly attributed to the decreased consumption trend of health-conscious products with the relaxation of the COVID-19 measures.

2019 H1	7,625 ton
2020 H1	9,269 ton
2021 H1	10, 439 ton
2022 H1	12,894 ton
2023 H1	11,670 ton

Table 2. Quantity of Imported Health Functional Food in the H1 of the Recent Five Years

In 2023 H1, a total of 1,665 items were imported, among which the top 10 in terms of weight are refined and processed raw materials (such as sugar, oil, rice wine, and sea salt, which require refining and processing before being used as food), wheat, corn, soybeans, pork, beef, bananas, kimchi, beer, and processed fruits and vegetables. The import quantity of these 10 items amounted to 5.24 million tons, accounting for 56.8% of the total import quantity.

(Unit: case, million tons, million USD)

No.	Item	2023 H1			2022 H1			YoY Growth
No.	Item	Case	Weight	Value	Case	Weight	Value	Case	Weight	Value
Total		397,941	9.22	1,872,086	399,379	9.60	1,892,167	-0.4%	-3.9%	-1.1%
1	Refined and processed raw materials	1,001	1.23	95,662	1,106	1.29	110,638	-9.5%	-4.3%	-13.5%
2	Wheat	435	1.21	46,404	486	1.26	48,689	-10.5%	-3.6%	-4.7%
3	Corn	341	0.94	33,160	414	1.31	49,549	-17.6%	-27.9%	-33.1%
4	Soybeans	518	0.69	51,096	441	0.62	42,069	17.5%	10.7%	21.5%
5	Pork	14,792	0.30	106,766	15,844	0.32	115,064	-6.6%	-6.4%	-7.2%
6	Beef	23,933	0.28	201,134	22,598	0.26	247,057	5.9%	5.1%	-18.6%
7	Bananas	1,603	0.17	16,262	1,597	0.17	15,872	0.4%	-1.7%	2.5%
8	Kimchi	10,597	0.14	7,244	8,759	0.12	7,985	21.0%	17.3%	-9.3%
9	Beer	2,109	0.14	9,665	2,454	0.11	8,770	-14.1%	27.4%	10.2%
10	Processed fruits and vegetables	8,657	0.14	28,123	9,114	0.16	29,888	-5.0%	-12.3%	-5.9%

Table 3. Import Status based on Food Item in 2023 H1

2. Country of Origin for the Imported Food

South Korea imported foods from 155 countries, among which the Top 3 were the U.S., China, and Australia. The import quantity from these countries accounted for 47.2% of the total import quantity.

(Unit: case, million tons, million USD)