South Korea’s electronics industry ranked third in terms of production last year, while being the fifth-largest market in consumption, a report showed Friday.

According to CEO Report by the Korea Electronics Association, the Korean electronics industry recorded $121.7 billion in production volume in 2017, growing 10.3 percent from the previous year.

The growth propelled the country to become the third-largest producer of electronics in the world, trailing only China and the US and accounting for 6.8 percent of global production.

China took over the No. 1 spot from the US in 2015, and has maintained the position since, according to KEA data.

Korea outstripped Japan, once the largest electronics maker, for the first time. 

The largest electronics producer in North America was Whirlpool last year, followed by Delphi, Sweden’s Electrolux, Germany’s Continental and Dell.

Whirlpool’s global output stood at 22.3 million units, the report showed.

The KEA forecast that production of the US electronics industry is expected to show steep growth rates until 2019 due to strengthening trade protectionist moves in the country.

“Electronics production is projected to grow steadily in major countries by 2019,” it said. “However, the growth rate of the US is expected to be higher than others due to reshoring and other protectionist policies.”

As US President Donald Trump signed his approval for safeguards on washing machine imports from Korea’s Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics on Tuesday, he called the safeguards “a strong incentive for Samsung and LG to follow through on their recent promises to build major manufacturing plants in the US.”

The safeguards included a 50 percent tariff on a quota of washing machines imports over 1.2 million units, which will eventually lead to price hikes of the Korean products in the US. 

By market size, a gauge for consumption of electronics, Korea came in fifth last year at $50.5 billion, falling 1.8 percent from a year prior.

China and the US likewise retained the top two positions in consumption, while Japan and Germany followed.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)