Korea sees fourth straight month of surplus as chip exports surge

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Korea sees fourth straight month of surplus as chip exports surge

Published: 08 Oct. 2024, 10:08

SHIN HA-NEE
shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr

Containers are stacked at a port in Busan on Sept. 11. [NEWS1]

Korea racked up a current account surplus for the fourth consecutive month in August, driven by robust chip exports, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The country's current account surplus reached $6.6 billion in August, marking a surplus for the fourth consecutive month, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea.

The August surplus was smaller than the previous month's $8.97 billion.

The country's goods account racked up a $6.59 billion surplus in August following an $8.33 billion surplus the previous month.

The nation's outbound shipments rose 7.1 percent on year in August to $57.45 billion, while imports increased 4.9 percent over the cited period to $50.86 billion, according to the central bank.

Data from the Korea Customs Service showed that semiconductor exports surged 38.3 percent from the same period last year to $12.06 billion in August. Exports of vessels rose 83.8 percent to $2.76 billion. However, car exports dipped 3.6 percent to $4.48 billion.

The primary income account, which tracks the wages of foreign workers, dividend payments from overseas and interest income, reported a $1.69 billion surplus in August, following a $3.15 billion surplus the previous month, the data showed.

The services account deficit narrowed to $1.23 billion in August from a deficit of $2.38 billion the previous month, it showed.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, YONHAP [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]