Datasheet for Korea

Aggregated data

Among the 15 Newly Industrialised Countries (NIC) analysed,  Korea is ranked No. 4 with regard to the General Innovation Index (GII) and No. 10 with regard to the Sustainability Index (SusI). Concerning the field of sustainability technologies Korea's focus is on export, less on publications and especially patents. Please view the methods sheet for more detailed information about the indicators and their calculation.
The world shares of Korea in sustainability relevant publications, patents and exports are given in table 1.

Table 1: World shares of Korea
literature patents exports
World shares 2.84% 2.84% 3.34%

Indicators for general innovation capacity

Among the 15 Newly Industrialised Countries analysed,  Korea leads with regard to learning, but is ranked only No. 13 with regard to governance and openness. The two other indicators that are used for the GII show an average performance level.
Concerning the environmental and social aspects that are used for the SusI index, Korea shows an average performance and is ranked at position 7 and 6.


Indicators for technology specific absorptive capacity

 For the four technology fields energy supply, energy sufficiency, water and waste, South Korea's data show no specialisation on exports or knowledge base. Transportation technologies on the other hand, are characterised by a strong export specialisation. The world shares of Korea in technology specific publications (WLS), patents (WPS) and exports (WTS) are given in table 2.

Table 2: World shares of Korea for technology fields
Technology fields WLS WPS WTS
energy supply 3.04% 2.89% 1.95%
energy efficiency 2.42% 4.37% 2.08%
material efficiency 1.37% 2.11% 1.07%
transportation 2.74% 1.27% 6.86%
water 2.65% 4.49% 1.92%
waste 2.60% 2.40% 2.33%

Selected disaggregated results for technology specific indicators

Table 3 lists the results for the indicators of Korea on an even more disaggregated level. The relevant indicators are the World Trade Share (WTS), Relative Trade Share (RTS), Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Patent Share (PS) and the Revealed Patent Advantage (RPA). Striking results can be found, for example, in automotive engineering and design.


Table 3: Disaggregated results of Korea
Disaggregated Technology fields WTS RTS RCA PS RPA
Recycling 1.61% -47 -85 2.44% -51
Energy Efficient Appliances 1.90% -34 -61 18.14% 89
Energy Efficient Buildings 2.29% -16 63 4.80% 11
Industrial Auxiliary Equipment 1.91% -33 -31 4.13% -4
Industrial Processes 2.37% -12 -20 1.69% -73
Renewable Energy Technologies 1.90% -33 -65 2.82% -40
Power Plant Technologies 0.71% -87 -81 1.99% -65
Renewable Raw Materials 0.37% -96 -96 1.31% -83
Propulsion Technologies 1.90% -33 -30 1.18% -86
Biofuels 0.23% -99 -100 2.08% -62
Automotive Engineering and Design 15.21% 94 99 0.68% -95
Sewage Disposal Technologies 1.59% -48 -46 2.42% -52
Water Supply Technologies 1.54% -51 -75 2.25% -57