Korea records ninth consecutive monthly surplus driven by cars, chips

A port in the southeastern city of Busan on Sept. 21. [YONHAP]

Korea logged a current account surplus for the ninth straight month in January on the back of a continued trade surplus driven by the recovery of chip and car exports, central bank data showed Friday.

The country's current account surplus reached $3.5 billion in January, slowing from the surplus of $7.41 billion in December.

The country's goods account racked up a $4.24 billion surplus in January, following an $8.04 billion surplus the previous month.

The nation's outbound shipments rose 14.7 percent on year in January to $55.52 billion.

Chip exports jumped 52.8 percent while that of automobiles rose 24.8 percent over the same period.

Imports dropped 8.1 percent over the cited period to $50.98 billion, largely due to a fall in energy prices that drove down the import price of raw materials.

The primary income account, which tracks the wages of foreign workers, dividend payments from overseas and interest income, reported a $1.62 billion surplus in January, following a $2.46 billion surplus in December, the data showed.

The services account deficit widened to $2.66 billion in January from a deficit of $2.54 billion the previous month, the data showed.

Last year, the country reported a current account surplus of $35.49 billion, compared to a surplus of $25.83 billion during the same period last year.

Last year's current account surplus was higher than the central bank's estimate of $30 billion.

For the year, the central bank forecast the current account surplus will widen to $52 billion on a recovery in exports.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]