South Korea’s Export Performance in August 2023

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s exports rose for an 11th consecutive month in August, although the growth rate was slower than expected and compared to the previous month.

Overseas sales by Asia’s fourth-largest economy increased by 11.4% year-on-year, reaching $57.90 billion. This marks a decline from July’s 13.9% increase, which was the highest in six months. The latest figures also fell short of the predicted 13.0% rise from a Reuters survey of economists.

Growth in semiconductor exports slowed to a five-month low, while auto sales decreased for a third successive month due to temporary circumstances, including wage negotiations and factory suspensions for production line improvements.

By destination, exports to China grew at a slower rate, but shipments to the United States accelerated. Notably, exports to the European Union rebounded, rising 16.1% to a record high of $6.4 billion.

Nevertheless, exports are on track to achieve a record performance this year, according to Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun, who noted, “Growing trends are seen across major export markets.”

Imports increased by 6.0% in August to $54.07 billion, following a 10.5% surge in July, the steepest since September 2022. This figure was slightly below the expected 6.3% rise from economists.

Consequently, the country recorded a trade surplus of $3.83 billion in August, growing from the previous month’s surplus of $3.60 billion.

(This story has been refiled to correct grammatical errors in paragraphs 1 and 3)