Korea’s tobacco exports have increased by 370 percent over the past 10 years while imports remained steady, resulting in a tobacco trade surplus since 2004.

In 2002, the country’s tobacco imports amounted to more than double its exports. Last year, exports rose to 1.7 times the imports, data from the Korea Customs Service showed.

“Much of the domestic demand for imported manufactured tobacco appears to have been replaced by demand for Korean-made products as their quality improved,” said a KCS official.

In 2002, more than three quarters of the imported tobacco was manufactured (processed) tobacco, but the share fell to around 40 percent last year. The remaining 60 percent was unmanufactured tobacco made simply of leaves and blended plants.

Tobacco exports, 97 percent of which are manufactured cigarettes, climbed 16 percent on average annually in the past decade.

Also, the number of countries trading tobacco with Korea increased, showing diversification in both exports and imports, according to the KCS.

Korea exports tobacco to 22 more countries now than in 2002, and imports from eight more countries now than 10 years ago.

The United Arab Emirates was the largest importer of Korean-made tobacco, while Korea imported the most from the Philippines. In 2002, Korea had imported the most ― 36 percent ― from Britain.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)