The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Minister Kim Hyeon-soo, MAFRA) and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister Moon Seong-Hyeok, MOF) reportedly said that the exports of agri-food and fisheries products have increased by 15.1% on a year-on-year basis and recorded USD 11.36 billion in 2021, exceeding USD 10 billion for the first time.

* Agri-food USD 8.54 billion (12.9%↑), Fisheries product USD 2.82 billion (22.4%↑)

Despite difficult export situations due to global supply chain disruptions and the spread of COVID-19 variants, thanks to the popular health foods and home meal replacements, fresh agricultural products and processed foods all showed an even increase in their exports, with a historic high record.

* Fresh agricultural products USD 1,571.1 million (10.0%↑), Processed foods USD 6,966.2 million (13.5%↑)

Exports of Kimchi and health foods including Ginseng as well as HMR including ramyeon, confectionery, beverage, sauce and processed rice products showed a sharp increase, and strawberries and grapes also showed a remarkable growth in export.

* Kimchi (USD 159.9 million, 10.7%↑), Ginseng (USD 267.2 million, 16.3%↑), ramyeon (USD 674.6 million, 11.8%↑), beverage (USD 485.3 million, 18.2%↑), sauce (USD 365.7 million, 14.7%↑), processed rice products (USD 163.1 million, 18.1%↑), strawberry (USD 64.5 million, 20.0%↑), grape (USD 38.7 million, 24.1%↑)

Korean traditional food products such as Kimchi and Ginseng have continued their significant growth in export since last year, based on higher interests in healthy foods.

* Export of Kimchi by country: Japan USD 80.1 million (12.7%↑), U.S. USD 28.3 million (22.5%↑), EU·UK USD 14.7 million (24.9%↑)
* Export of Ginseng by country: China USD 102.6 million (25.1%↑), U.S. USD 34.4% million (22.9%↑), Vietnam USD 29.3 million (34.4%↑)
With the spread of Korean Wave ‘Hallyu’, HMRs such as ramyeon, sauce and processed rice products also showed an increase based on the growing demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Export of ramyeon by country: Japan USD 65.3 million (19.7%↑), Taiwan USD 31.8 million (34.9%↑), Netherlands USD 19.3 million (68.5%↑)
* Export of sauce by country: U.S. USD 81.3 million (10.7%↑), Russia USD 34.1 million (25.1%↑), Japan USD 37.2 million (48.8%↑)

As the government put focus on fostering strawberries and grapes, the integrated export organization developed good varieties and raised competitiveness by each stage, including storage, logistics and marketing. The efforts resulted in reaching the accumulated export volume of 103 million dollars, positioning the goods as premium fresh agricultural goods produced in Korea.

Strawberries were mainly exported to Hong Kong and Singapore on chartered aircraft supported by the government and sold in the premium markets including high-class hotels and dessert cafes. The quality of grapes for exportation were strictly controlled, in terms of sweetness and size, and the grapes were sold in China at a high price (KRW 120 thousand per bunch).

* Export of strawberries by country: Hong Kong USD 21.7 million (24.9%↑), Singapore USD 15.2 million (8.2%↑), Thailand USD 8.9 million (14.9%↑)
* Export of grapes by country: Hong Kong USD 9.6 million (43.7%↑), Vietnam USD 9.0 million (10.5%↑), China USD 8.6 million (11.0%↑)

Deputy Minister Kwon Jae-han of the Food Industry Policy Office of MAFRA said, “Such record high achievement during this tough time was possible thanks to harmonized efforts made by farmers, food industry and agri-food exporters as well as policy supports by the public sector.”

He also stressed, “The government will make its best efforts to spur the export growth of agri-food by fostering favored items with high potential such as strawberry, grape and Kimchi, implementing virtual export support policies and promotion of the Korean wave at the same time, and specifying export strategies according the national conditions of the importing countries, including the COVID-19 situation.”

A variety of fishery products not only the main commodities such as dried laver product and tuna, but also fish cakes, oysters and halibuts showed an increase in exports on a year-on-year basis.

* Laver USD 692.8 million (15.4%↑), Tuna USD 579.2 million (9.7%↑), Fish cake USD 49.5 million (9.7%↑), Oyster USD 80.1 million (12.0%↑), Halibut USD 55.0 million (27.6%↑)

Among the fishery products, the number one export item, dried laver, has been renewing its record of exports every year for the last decade.

In the wake of hallyu and rising popularity, the export markets of dried laver were expanded to not only the conventional importers such as the U.S., Japan and China, but also to new export destinations, including Portugal, Cyprus and Bhutan. As of the end of 2021, USD 700 million worth dried laver products were shipped to 114 countries (15.4%↑compared to 2020).

The record-breaking export was possible building on the efforts made by the laver exporters. They include the development of high value-added products such as organic fried laver (gim-bugak), vegetarian laver for gimbap, seasoned dried laver, marketing campaigns by using characters popular to children, and acquisition of international certification, such as organic certification or Food Safety System Certification.

* Increase in dried laver exports: (2010) USD 105.2 million → (2015) USD 304.9 million → (2020) USD 600.4 million → (2021) USD 692.8 million
* Export of dried laver product by country: U.S. USD 155.5 million (12.7%↑), China USD 139.4 million (38.2%↑), Japan USD 114.1 million (14.1%↓)

In case of tuna, demands for filleted raw tuna and tuna steak in countries including Japan, France and Italy have been growing. The export of canned product has been standing second on the list of export volume, with a steady increase to USD 579 million up by 9.7% year-on-year.

* Export of tuna by country: Japan USD 208.0 million (16.7%↑), Thailand USD 64.9 million (38.1%↓), France USD 53.6 million (76.0%↑)

The export of oysters to Japan, the major importer, has decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the export to the U.S. has increased by 12% year-on-year following the increased demand in the country.

* Export of oyster by country: Japan USD 28.5 million (11.1%↓), 미국 USD 24.3 million (42.9%↑), Hong Kong USD 11.3 million (29.4%↑)

Deputy Minister Kim Jun-seok of the Fisheries Policy Office of MOF said, “The record-breaking export of fisheries products is the outcome of efforts made by all fishers and fish workers producing and processing the products, and export businesses, supported by the Korean government.”

He also highlighted, “This year, we will also strengthen policy support for the export of fisheries products and for the businesses by holding online fisheries fair and virtual business meetings in response to the untact consumption.”