Korea Customs Trade Statistics - 관세청 수출입무역통계

What does Korea Customs Trade Tracker do?

Korea Customs Trade Tracker fetches South Korea's official export and import statistics via the UN Comtrade public API — the world's largest repository of international merchandise trade data, sourced directly from the Korea Customs Service (reporter code 410). This Korea customs trade tracker returns structured monthly or annual records for any HS commodity code and any partner country, covering Korean import export data all the way back to 2010. No API key, no registration, and no scraping — just configure your filters and run.

Use this actor to track KITA trade statistics-equivalent data programmatically: semiconductor exports (HS 8542), electronics (HS 85), automotive parts (HS 87), energy imports (HS 27), and more.

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Why use Korea Customs Trade Tracker?

• Macro research and economic analysis — Build time-series of Korea's export engine across sectors and partner countries without manual portal downloads
• Supply chain monitoring — Track whether Korea's semiconductor or electronics exports to the US or China are accelerating or contracting month-over-month
• Trading signal generation — Feed structured Korean import export data into quant models as macro indicators for KRW, KOSPI, or sector ETFs
• Corporate competitive intelligence — Monitor Korea's trade balance by HS chapter to understand upstream demand for specific goods
• Academic and policy research — Replicate or extend KITA trade statistics analyses with structured, machine-readable data directly from UN Comtrade

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How to use Korea Customs Trade Tracker

1. Open the actor on Apify and click Try for free
2. Choose trade_type: export, import, or both
3. Choose stat_mode: monthly (YYYYMM) or annual (YYYY)
4. Set start_period and end_period (defaults to last 3 months)
5. Optionally filter by hs_code (e.g. 85 for electronics) and country_code (e.g. US, CN)
6. Set max_results and click Start
7. Download as JSON / CSV or connect via Apify API

Data lag: UN Comtrade monthly data typically lags ~6 months; annual data lags ~18 months. For very recent months, use Korea Customs' official portal at tradedata.go.kr.

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Input

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
trade_type	enum	both	export / import / both
stat_mode	enum	monthly	monthly (YYYYMM) or annual (YYYY)
start_period	string	3 months ago	Start period: YYYYMM or YYYY
end_period	string	current month	End period: YYYYMM or YYYY
hs_code	string	—	2-digit HS chapter (e.g. 85 for electrical machinery). Empty = total trade
country_code	string	—	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 partner country (e.g. US, CN, JP). Empty = world total
max_results	integer	500	Cap on total records returned

Common HS code examples

HS Code	Commodity
85	Electrical machinery and electronics
8542	Semiconductors / integrated circuits
87	Vehicles and automotive parts
27	Mineral fuels (oil, LNG)
29	Organic chemicals
39	Plastics

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Output

Each record represents one monthly or annual Korea trade flow:

[
  {
    "period": "202401",
    "hs_code": "85",
    "hs_code_name": "Electrical machinery and equipment",
    "country_code": "US",
    "country_name": "United States of America",
    "trade_type": "export",
    "amount_usd": 5464530147.0,
    "weight_kg": 48200000.0,
    "freq": "monthly",
    "ref_year": 2024,
    "ref_month": 1
  },
  {
    "period": "202402",
    "hs_code": "85",
    "hs_code_name": "Electrical machinery and equipment",
    "country_code": "US",
    "country_name": "United States of America",
    "trade_type": "export",
    "amount_usd": 4920811000.0,
    "weight_kg": 43500000.0,
    "freq": "monthly",
    "ref_year": 2024,
    "ref_month": 2
  }
]

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Data fields

Field	Type	Description
period	string	YYYYMM (monthly) or YYYY (annual)
hs_code	string	HS commodity code queried (or TOTAL)
hs_code_name	string	Commodity description from UN Comtrade
country_code	string	Trading partner ISO alpha-2 (or WLD for world)
country_name	string	Trading partner full name
trade_type	string	export or import
amount_usd	number	Trade value in USD (FOB for exports, CIF for imports)
weight_kg	number	Net weight in kilograms
quantity	number	Quantity in supplementary unit (where applicable)
freq	string	monthly or annual
ref_year	integer	Reference year
ref_month	integer	Reference month (monthly mode only)

Export values are FOB (Free on Board); import values are CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight).

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Cost estimation

Event	Price	Example
Actor start	$0.001	One-time per run
Per trade record returned	$0.002	—
3 months, 1 commodity	~$0.01	Electronics exports last quarter
12 months, world total	~$0.03	Full-year trade balance
5 years annual	~$0.02	Long-term trend analysis

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FAQ

Does this require an API key or UN Comtrade subscription? No. This actor uses the UN Comtrade public preview API — completely free, no registration required. The full subscription (required for per-HS-code breakdowns within a chapter) costs several thousand dollars/year; this actor delivers everything available via the free tier.

How granular is the HS code data? The public preview API returns 2-digit HS chapter aggregates (e.g. HS 85 = all electrical machinery). For 4-digit or 6-digit breakdowns, a UN Comtrade full subscription is required. Most macro research use cases are well-served by the chapter level.

Why does recent monthly data sometimes return no results? UN Comtrade monthly data for Korea typically lags approximately 6 months from the reference period. For very recent months, the Korea Customs Service's own portal at tradedata.go.kr is updated more frequently.

Disclaimer: This actor accesses publicly available Korean import export data from the UN Comtrade public API. The developer is not affiliated with UN Comtrade, the Korea Customs Service, or KITA. Data accuracy is subject to UN Comtrade reporting standards.

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Keywords: Korea customs trade tracker, Korean import export data, KITA trade statistics, UN Comtrade Korea, South Korea exports, semiconductor trade data, HS code tracker, Korean economy data, Korea trade balance API

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