▲ Containers stacked at the Port of Busan
South Korea's annual exports have surpassed 800 billion dollars for the first time in history, driven by a record monthly export figure of 120 billion dollars last month.
Semiconductors, the country's flagship export item, led the overall performance with over 60 billion dollars, while the trade surplus neared 50 billion dollars.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced today that exports for September rose 83.5% from the same period last year to 120.94 billion dollars.
This marks the first time monthly exports have exceeded 120 billion dollars, breaking the previous record high of 102.2 billion dollars set in June.
Boosted by this performance, cumulative exports for January through September reached 814.5 billion dollars, comfortably exceeding last year's previous annual record total of 709.3 billion dollars.
If the current trend continues, achieving 1 trillion dollars in annual exports is well within reach.
Semiconductor exports last month surged 262.8% compared to September of last year to reach 60.3 billion dollars, crossing the 60 billion dollar threshold for the first time ever.
The previous monthly record for semiconductors was 46.7 billion dollars in August.
Semiconductors maintained their strong performance as demand for memory continued to grow, alongside an expansion in export volume and sustained increases in fixed prices.
Other IT items besides semiconductors also showed strength.
Computer exports jumped 435.3% to 7 billion dollars, driven by the proliferation of agentic AI and increased demand for AI infrastructure, while wireless communication devices increased 23.4% to 2.14 billion dollars, driven by strong sales of premium models and increased exports of iPhone parts.
Among the 20 major export items, exports increased in 11 categories.
By region, exports increased in six out of nine regions.
Exports to China rose 122.7% to 26.01 billion dollars, and exports to the United States increased 137.0% to 24.33 billion dollars.
Imports for September were tallied at 71.09 billion dollars, up 26.0%, and the trade surplus recorded 49.85 billion dollars, coming within striking distance of 50 billion dollars.
The cumulative trade surplus for January through September stood at 252.5 billion dollars, an increase of 202.7 billion dollars compared to the same period last year.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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