The European Union’s export growth to South Korea from 2000 through 2010 outpaced its import gain as Asia’s fourth-largest economy moved to diversify its import sources, a report showed Monday.

The report by Statistics Korea said the 27-member EU shipped a combined 27.98 billion euros ($37.15 billion) worth of goods to South Korea in 2010, a 67 percent gain from 10 years earlier when it exported 16.74 billion euros.

In the same period, the world’s largest economic bloc’s imports from South Korea rose 44 percent from 26.95 billion euros to 38.68 billion euros.

The state agency said there was an overall rise in trade during the 10 year period with Korean companies and consumers moving to buy more products and industrial materials from European compared to the past.

The report, however, showed that from 2000 onwards, the EU suffered a trade deficit vis-a-vis South Korea, with the exception of 2008.

The tally was taken before the free trade agreement between the two sides went into effect in July 2011.

The latest findings showed South Korea’s gross domestic product reaching 765.0 billion euros as of 2010, which is equal to 6.2 percent of EU’s total GDP that stood at 12.25 trillion euros.

The statistical report also showed Seoul’s per capita GDP, based on purchasing power, equivalent to $29,400 or 91 percent of the average for the for the EU that stood at $31,737.

South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2.9 percent in 2010 compared to 2.1 percent for Europe, although the country’s unemployment rate stood at 3.7 percent, much lower than 9.7 percent for the EU.

The European economic bloc managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent as of 2009 from 1998, while South Korea’s output of such gases as carbon dioxide, sulphur hexafluoride and nitrous oxide jumped 38 percent.

The statistical office, meanwhile, said South Korea outshined the EU in terms of household Internet use and percentage of people with college degrees or above. South Korea’s life expectancy of 80.5 years in 2009 was slightly higher than 79.4 years for the European countries. 

(Yonhap News)