Last year, provisional annual exports by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were tallied at USD 118.6 billion, the highest on record on an annual basis.

According to the provisional 2025 SME Export Trends released by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) on the 28th, SME exports last year increased 6.9% from 2024 to USD 118.6 billion. This is the largest SME export performance ever. SME exports, which stood at USD 115.5 billion in 2021, had declined to USD 114.5 billion in 2022 and USD 109.7 billion in 2023. However, they rebounded to USD 111.0 billion in 2024 and were provisionally tallied at a new record high last year. The number of exporting SMEs was 98,219, a 2.5% increase from the previous year (95,815). The number of exporting companies was also the highest ever. Both new exporters and continuous exporters increased by 2.2% and 2.6%, respectively.

Among SME export items, automobiles recorded USD 9.0 billion (7.6%), the highest export share. This was followed by cosmetics at USD 8.3 billion (7.9%) and plastic products at USD 4.8 billion (4.0%). The top 10 export items accounted for 36.1% of total SME exports, lower than the concentration of the top 10 items in Korea’s total exports (60.9%). An MSS official explained, “In the case of SMEs, export item diversification has progressed, which appears to provide a higher buffer effect against global economic fluctuations.”

For cosmetics, performance improvement driven by export diversification was notable thanks to the popularity of K-beauty. In addition to the main export markets of the United States and China, exporters advanced into the European Union, the Middle East, and other regions, achieving a record-high annual performance with exports to a total of 204 countries and export value of USD 8.32 billion.

The top 10 countries by SME export value were China, the United States, Vietnam, and Japan, in that order. By region, exports of consumer goods such as K-beauty and food surged in the Middle East (USD 6.45 billion, +14.1%) and the CIS (USD 8.86 billion, +37.3%), driven by the spread of Korean Wave content and changes in global consumption trends. In particular, exports to China, which had shown a declining trend for three consecutive years since 2022, increased 5.5% due to the impact of K-fashion and beauty.

Lee Soon-bae, Director-General for Global Growth Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Despite the challenging external environment, exports achieved a record-high performance, but it is also true that SMEs are highly concerned about the prolonged trade risks such as tariffs,” adding, “The ministry will make efforts to proactively respond to external uncertainties so that the recovery in SME exports can be sustained.”

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