In early February, Korea's exports rose by more than 40% from the same period a year earlier. A surge in semiconductor exports driven by artificial intelligence (AI) demand led the overall increase. One-third of total exports were semiconductors.
According to the Korea Customs Service on the 11th, exports for the 1st–10th of this month came to $21.4 billion, up 44.4% from a year earlier. This is the highest on record for exports during the 1st–10th period. Working days during this period (7.5 days) were 0.5 day longer than last year, and average daily exports rose 34.8%.
Semiconductor exports totaled $6.7 billion. This is also the highest on record for the 1st–10th period. That was a 137.6% surge from the same period last year. Semiconductors accounted for 31.5% of total exports, up 12.3 percentage points (p). Exports of petroleum products (40.1%) and wireless communication devices (27.9%) also increased. By contrast, passenger cars and ships fell 2.6% and 29%, respectively.
By country, exports to China rose 54.1% from last year, accounting for the largest share (21.3%) of Korea's total exports. Export shares were next largest for the United States (16.9%), Vietnam (9.9%), the European Union (EU, 8.2%), and Taiwan (5.2%).
During the same period, imports were $20.7 billion, up 21.1% from the same period last year. As a result, the trade balance posted a $600 million surplus.