Korea imported $25 billion worth of food in 2017

Home > Business > Economy

Korea imported $25 billion worth of food in 2017

Published: 16 Jan. 2018, 20:07

Korea imported $25 billion of food last year, with the biggest shipment in monetary terms coming from the United States, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Tuesday.

The total is a 7 percent increase from the year before and breaks down to 18.29 million tons in 672,278 shipments of food and related materials from 168 countries.

In terms of monetary value, imports from the United States totaled $5.43 billion, followed by China with $4.19 billion. Australia came next with $2.57 billion, Vietnam $1.18 billion and Russia $941 million, according to the ministry’s data for 2017.

By item, beef was the most imported food at $2.46 billion. Pork came next at $1.63 billion. Food material for processing reached $1.56 billion, with numbers for soybeans and wheat reaching $612.2 million and $549.7 million, respectively.

YONHAP