Import restrictions against South Korea barely decreased this year due to growing protectionism worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) on Sunday, South Korea was subject to 225 import regulations from 28 countries in the first half of this year.

The comparable figures for the second half of last year were 229 restrictions from 26 countries.

Of the import curbs imposed in the first half of this year, 72 percent or 160 are anti-dumping duties, while 56 others are safeguard measures and nine are countervailing duties.

The United States was found to impose the most restrictions on South Korean goods with 45, followed by India with 22 and Turkey with 18.

By product, import curbs on steel and metal products were the largest at 110, followed by chemicals with 50.