According to a report released on March 17 by the Institute for International Trade under the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), China ranked first globally in 2024 with the highest number of product categories holding the largest global export market share, totaling 2,087 items. It was followed by Germany (520 items), the United States (505 items), Italy (199 items), and India (172 items).

       The report noted that South Korea maintained its position as the world's tenth-largest holder of top-ranked export items for the fifth consecutive year, with 81 products claiming the largest global market share. Among them, 20 South Korean products either newly claimed or regained the top spot in 2024, including memory chips, transformers, and facial masks. Memory chips, South Korea's largest export item, regained the global top spot after five years, surpassing China, driven by the strong performance of high value-added products such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Meanwhile, South Korea lost its top position in 17 product categories, including oil tankers and LNG carriers, which ceded their leading positions amid competition with China.

       According to the institute's statistics, China has maintained the top position in the number of product categories with the largest global export market share for five consecutive years. Except for a slight dip in 2023, the number has increased annually, rising by 264 categories in 2024 compared to 2020.

       South Korea's Kyunghyang Shinmun also highlighted that, in terms of product categories with annual export value exceeding USD 100 million and ranking between 2nd and 10th globally, whose rankings have steadily improved since 2020, the United States had 38 such items, China had 33, South Korea and Germany each had 19, and Japan had 4. South Korea's "edaily" news platform suggested that, amidst the growing trend of protectionism centered around national interests in the global market, measures should be urgently formulated to enhance the competitiveness of South Korean products and expand their presence in more national markets.