North Korea's trade deficit continued to grow, says SKorea

SEOUL, June 4 (UPI) -- South Korea's trade promotion agency KOTRA stated North Korea's trade with the outside world rose to $7.61 billion in 2014, a marginal increase from the previous fiscal year.

In its annual report on North Korea trade trends released Friday, KOTRA noted North Korean exports scaled down while demand for outside materials was up between 2013 and 2014, Yonhap reported.

Numbers indicated North Korea's exports decreased by 1.7 percent to $3.16 billion in 2014, while imports rose by 7.8 percent to $4.45 billion.

North Korea's trade deficit jumped to $1.29 billion, up 41 percent from 2013.

In 2014 North Korea imported more electrical equipment, machinery and plastics than it did a year earlier, while exporting more clothing and accessories, according to KOTRA.

The country's primary export is coal, a trade valued at $1.18 billion and comprises 37.2 percent of North Korea exports.

Clothing and accessories inched up in its share of total exports, rising to $640 million – up 23.7 percent from 2013.

The country's primary import was fossil fuels at $750 million, followed by electrical equipment at $430 million and boilers, machinery at $330 million.

China remained North Korea's No. 1 trading partner, reported South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Sinmun.

In 2014 China-North Korea trade inched up 4.9 percent to $6.87 billion. North Korea imported more than it exported from China. Exports were estimated at $2.84 billion while imports totaled $4.03 billion.

A KOTRA official told Yonhap North Korea's protracted political and economic isolation has led to a high dependence on trade with China, facilitated by a complementary trade structure between the two countries.

South Korea's report stated North Korea's trade dependence on China was as high as 90.1 percent, dwarfing Pyongyang's next major trading partner, Russia, as well as India, Thailand and Bangladesh.