Seoul: Exports by South Korea's 10 largest companies accounted for nearly 40 percent of all outbound shipments last year, reaching a record high, largely driven by strong semiconductor sales, government data showed Saturday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, in 2025, outbound shipments by the top 10 exporters accounted for 39 percent of the country's total exports, up 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. "The concentration level is the highest on record, with increased semiconductor shipments having the largest impact," said Jung Kyu-seong, a ministry official.

Outbound shipments from the country's two major chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. -- helped drive overall export growth amid an artificial intelligence (AI) upcycle. The top 100 companies accounted for 67.1 percent of exports in 2025, up 0.4 percentage point from the previous year, the ministry said.