Exports down 20.8 percent during first 10 days of December

Containers are piled up a port in Busan on Dec. 4. [SONG BONG-GUEN]

Korea's exports slipped 20.8 percent on year in the first 10 days of December, data showed Monday, due mainly to weak shipments of chips and mobile devices.

The country's outbound shipments stood at $15.4 billion in the Dec. 1-10 period, compared with $19.4 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

Imports also went down 7.3 percent on year to $20.3 billion during the cited period, resulting in a trade deficit of $4.9 billion.

Outbound shipments of chips, the mainstay export product, fell 27.6 while those of mobile devices decreased 46.6 percent, the data showed.

Exports fell 14 percent on year to come to $51.91 billion in November, following a 5.7 percent on-year fall the previous month, separate data from the Trade Ministry showed.

It was the first time since early 2020 that exports fell for the second month in a row. Korea last reported declining exports for more than two months from March through August in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yonhap