Last year, the surplus in the current account with the United States exceeded $100 billion, marking the highest level for four consecutive years. In contrast, Korea has not escaped from three consecutive years of deficits in transactions with China.
According to the '2024 Balance of Payments by Region (Provisional)' statistics released by the Bank of Korea on the 20th, the surplus in the current account with the United States amounted to $118.23 billion, an increase of 34.7% from the previous year ($87.76 billion). This is the largest surplus since regional current accounts have been recorded since 1998.
The widening surplus in the trade balance with the United States (exports minus imports) had a significant impact. Last year, the trade balance recorded a surplus of $108.99 billion, driven by exports of semiconductors and computers. The income from dividends also rose significantly, totaling $18.4 billion, an increase of over $4 billion compared to the previous year ($14.29 billion), setting a new record. However, the service account recorded a deficit of $7.18 billion, reflecting poor performance.
In contrast, the current account with China recorded a deficit of $29.04 billion. The current account with China has been in deficit for three consecutive years since returning to a deficit in 2022 (-$8.45 billion). The deficit level was the second largest after 2023 (-$29.25 billion). However, due to an increase in semiconductor exports and a decrease in imports of chemical products, the deficit in the trade balance decreased from $33.13 billion to $32.53 billion over the year, resulting in an overall reduction of the deficit.
The current account with Japan recorded a deficit of $12.72 billion. Compared to a year ago (-$15.77 billion), the deficit level shrank by over $3 billion. The transactions with the European Union (EU) and Southeast Asia each yielded surpluses of $17.09 billion and $56.52 billion, respectively. This is attributed to robust exports of ships, semiconductors, and computers (SSDs), according to the Bank of Korea.
Last year, looking at the financial accounts, domestic residents' foreign direct investment increased in most regions, including the United States (+$24.71 billion), EU (+$2.58 billion), and Southeast Asia (+$13.75 billion). In particular, the scale of direct investment in the United States was the fourth largest ever. However, it decreased in China (-$3.69 billion). Foreign direct investment (liabilities) dropped from $19.04 billion to $15.23 billion.
Last year, the increase in domestic residents' foreign portfolio investment was recorded at $72.25 billion, significantly surpassing 2023 ($45.42 billion). Both foreign stock investment ($29.85 billion to $42.2 billion) and foreign bond investment ($15.57 billion to $30.05 billion) increased.