Korea's air cargo grew 10% in two years. China and Japan grew 3x that
Freight arriving in Korea from China rose 23.8% and from Japan 28.3% between July 2024 and July 2026, while total air cargo grew only 10.0%. The catch-all 'rest of Asia' bucket, still the largest single source, barely moved and lost share.
AI-assisted, human-reviewed sourcing. Figures are pulled programmatically from the official sources listed at the end of this article and checked by an editor before publication.
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Korea Airports Corporation’s own monthly cargo tonnage figures show air freight arriving in Korea growing far faster from two specific sources — China and Japan — than from the rest of the world combined, even as the overall total barely accelerated.
Two sources growing three times faster than the total
Comparing the same month, July, across three years removes the seasonal swings a raw month-to-month figure would carry.
| Arriving cargo (tonnes) | Jul 2024 | Jul 2025 | Jul 2026 | Change (2yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 36,787 | 39,894 | 45,557 | +23.8% |
| Japan | 20,506 | 20,777 | 26,308 | +28.3% |
| All regions (total) | 176,454 | — | 194,155 | +10.0% |
China and Japan combined now account for 37.0% of all air cargo arriving in Korea, up from 32.4% two years earlier. Every other region’s freight, taken together, has been growing at roughly a third of that pace.
The “rest of Asia” bucket is the largest source and the slowest-growing
KOSIS’s regional breakdown keeps “Asia” (excluding Japan and China) as its own catch-all category — and it remains the single largest source of arriving air cargo, larger than China or Japan individually. But it is also the slowest-growing of the major sources:
| Region | Jul 2024 | Jul 2026 | Change (2yr) | Share, Jul 2024 → Jul 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of Asia | 56,150t | 57,397t | +2.2% | 31.8% → 29.6% |
| China | 36,787t | 45,557t | +23.8% | 20.8% → 23.5% |
| Japan | 20,506t | 26,308t | +28.3% | 11.6% → 13.5% |
A region can stay the largest supplier by volume while losing share, if the volume itself is nearly flat and its competitors are not.
Not fuller planes — more of them
The passenger side of this same dataset showed China’s passenger count per flight rising as traffic grew, suggesting bigger aircraft or higher load factors on that route. Cargo tells a different story: tonnage per flight barely moved for either China (7.36 → 7.51 tonnes) or Japan (3.53 → 3.59) over the same two years. The growth in freight volume tracks the growth in flight count almost one-for-one — this looks like more flights carrying about the same load each, not the same flights carrying more.
One region moved the same way on both counts
Oceania’s arriving cargo fell 25.4% (2,114 → 1,578 tonnes) from July 2024 to July 2026 — in the same direction as the passenger decline this outlet found in a separate pass through this table’s passenger columns. Both figures come from the same monthly KOSIS release; this piece did not go looking for a reason behind either move.
This is a record of Korea Airports Corporation’s own monthly cargo counts, not a trade-volume forecast.
Data & Verification Notes
- Data as of
- Sources
- Korea Airports Corporation (via KOSIS, Statistics Korea) — International flights by region, monthly, arrivals — cargo tonnage and flight count (table DT_920005_B005, org 381)
- Cross-checks
- Cargo arriving from China: 36,787 tonnes (July 2024) → 45,557 tonnes (July 2026), +23.8%, same calendar month each year to remove seasonality
- Cargo arriving from Japan: 20,506 → 26,308 tonnes, +28.3% over the same two years
- Total cargo across all eight KOSIS regions grew only 10.0% (176,454 → 194,155 tonnes) — China and Japan's combined share rose from 32.4% to 37.0%
- 'Rest of Asia' (the largest single bucket, distinct from Japan and China) grew only 2.2% in tonnage (56,150 → 57,397) and its share of total cargo fell from 31.8% to 29.6%
- Cargo per flight held roughly flat for both China (7.36 → 7.51 tonnes/flight) and Japan (3.53 → 3.59) — unlike passenger traffic on the same routes, this is more flights carrying proportionally more freight, not fuller planes
- Oceania cargo fell 25.4% (2,114 → 1,578 tonnes) — the same region that showed a comparable passenger-traffic decline in a separate check of this table's passenger columns, a same-direction cross-check within the source
- Excluded figures
- What the cargo consists of. The table reports total tonnage by region, not by goods category — this is not a semiconductor-shipment or e-commerce-parcel count
- Why 'rest of Asia' cargo growth lagged. Route mix, aircraft type and demand composition would all show up the same way in this table. Checked and not found in the table's own fields
- Whether this reflects Korea-bound or through-cargo (freight continuing on to a third country after transiting Korea) — the table does not distinguish
- This is not trade-volume or investment advice
The full dataset behind these figures — every listed company, every row — is available to license. SeoulMarkets data for licence →
Not investment advice. SMarkets publishes data journalism for general information only. Nothing here is investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security — any investment you make is at your own risk and responsibility. Figures are derived from official public data sources and may be revised by the issuing agency. Verify independently before acting.
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