Overview
- Consumer-goods shipments rose 6.6% year over year in January–September, marking an all-time high for that nine-month period, according to KOTRA.
- Cosmetics exports posted growth of more than double last year’s pace and may overtake food as the top consumer-goods category for the full year.
- Total exports reached $579.3 billion in January–October, up 2.4% on year, with declines to China and the United States and gains to ASEAN, the EU, Taiwan, Latin America, the CIS and India.
- KOTRA plans a deeper push into the Global South and greater use of e-commerce, noting its 131 overseas offices include 68 in those regions and that barriers to distant consumer markets are falling.
- The agency outlined early monitoring of critical minerals, diversification of import sources and support for domestic production as priorities tied to a $1 trillion export goal and a top‑five global ranking.