Korea recorded a trade deficit due to the global economic downturn in 2023, despite achieving the highest export volume in December.

Notably, the biotech and healthcare industry, one of the five promising sectors, has experienced a continuous deficit for 16 months since July 2022.

Despite an increase in export volume in the last months of 2023, the annual export performance declined significantly compared to 2022.

According to the "December 2023 and Annual Import and Export Performance Analysis and Trends" report released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy on Monday, the annual export of the biotech industry in 2023 showed a significant decrease.

In December, the bio and health industry exports in Korea were $1.3 billion, a 4.2 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year. Notably, pharmaceutical exports reached $783 million in December, an 8.6 percent increase from the previous year.

While the pharmaceutical and biotech industry managed to record an increase in December, this was not enough to offset the overall decrease in annual exports.

The annual export amount for the biotech and healthcare industry in 2023 was $13.3 billion, about an 18 percent decrease compared to $16.3 billion in 2022.

Export amount of pharmaceuticals also shrank by over 25 percent from $10.4 billion in 2022 to $7.8 billion in 2023.

Despite lower-than-expected annual export performance in 2023, the MOTIE stressed that the industry avoided a complete downturn.

"In the second half of the year, global market sales of key products in the biotech and healthcare industry, such as biosimilars, began in earnest," an MOTIE official said. "However, there were factors such as the base effect compared to the previous year and a decrease in demand for Covid-19 products, including vaccines and diagnostic kits, due to the pandemic's end."