Military orders drive spike in Polish imports from South Korea: study

Poland recorded a significant increase in imports from South Korea during the first four months of this year, driven largely by defence orders, a study has found.

A K2 Black Panther tank acquired by the Polish military from South Korea.

Photo: Staff Sgt. Matthew Foster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Between January and April, Polish imports from South Korea rose by 30.1 percent year-on-year to EUR 3.5 billion (USD 4 billion), according to a report by the Polish Development Fund (PFR), a state-owned financial group.

This marked the highest import growth among Poland’s top 10 trading partners during the period, the report said.

According to the PFR, the surge was primarily fuelled by military contracts.

Imports of tanks and other armoured combat vehicles totalled EUR 444 million, up 73.2 percent from the same period last year.

Purchases of military weapons from South Korea soared nearly 40,000 percent, reaching EUR 264.8 million, according to the report.

Poland had a foreign trade deficit of around EUR 2.8 billion in the first four months of this year, and its largest import markets were Germany, China and the United States, according to the country's statistics office. 

From January to April 2025, the negative balance in #ForeignTrade amounted to 11.6 billion PLN. Compared to the corresponding period of 2024, exports decreased by 2.4%, while imports increased by 3.3%.
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#StatisticsPoland #ForeignTrade pic.twitter.com/Lp9iKDiWxz

— Statistics Poland (@StatPoland) June 13, 2025

(gs)

Source: PAP