S. Korean exports to India drop 3.5% from pre-pandemic level

South Korea's exports to India shrank 3.5 percent in the first nine months of this year from 2019 due to import controls and a delay in the recovery of the emerging economy, a top business lobby said Wednesday.

Overseas shipments to Asia's third-largest economy came to $11.41 billion in the January-September period, compared with $11.82 billion during the same period two years earlier, according to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

The decline contrasts with a 16.5 percent on-year surge in South Korea's exports to its top 20 export destinations over the cited period.

South Korea's exports to India, its seventh-largest export market, have been on the wane since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019.

The FKI, or the lobby for South Korea's family-controlled conglomerates, said the decrease was due to New Delhi's import curbs on Seoul's key export items and India's delayed economic rebound.

A total of 34 South Korean goods, including chemicals, steel and plastic, remain affected by India's import controls. The figure accounts for 15 percent of global import curbs on South Korean products.

The Indian economy has also suffered a delay in its recovery from a pandemic-induced slump as the second wave of coronavirus infections has resulted in a local lockdown, the FKI said.

Due to those factors, South Korea has not benefited from a drop in China's share of the Indian market stemming from an intensifying border dispute between the two neighboring countries, it added.

South Korea's share of the Indian import market has been languishing in the low 3 percent range since 2018.

The fall in South Korea's exports comes despite bilateral efforts to boost economic cooperation. Between 2016 and 2019, Seoul and New Delhi held negotiations to enhance the countries' free trade agreement, known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which took effect in 2010. (Yonhap)