Facial masks made in Korea (Korea.net DB)

By Kim Seon Ah

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the third quarter posted exports worth USD 30.5 billion, an all-time high for a quarter, thanks to surging demand for domestic cosmetics and used cars.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups on Oct. 26 said such shipments rose 11.6% from the same period last year to set the mark and topped the third-quarter figures of USD 27.7 billion in 2022, USD 26.9 billion in 2023 and USD 27.3 billion last year.

In the first nine months of this year, SME exports set a record high of USD 87.1 billion, up 5.8% year on year. The number of SME exporters also inched up 3% to 89,418, yet another all-time mark.

By item, used cars stood out with third-quarter exports of USD 2.62 billion, an 80% jump.

Those of cosmetics surged 28% to USD 2.21 billion, with the highest growth seen in Poland (69.1% to USD 50 million), the U.K. (45.6% to USD 50 million) and United Arab Emirates (43.1% to USD 60 million).

In the year's first three quarters, SMEs exported cosmetics to a record-high 203 countries to account for 73.3% of Korea's exports in the sector.

sofiakim218@korea.kr