Information and communications technology (ICT) exports last month set a record high for August by breaking USD 20 billion and posted the second-highest performance for any month since September 2018.
The Ministry of Science and ICT on Sept. 14 said last month’s ICT exports came to the provisional estimate of USD 20.27 billion, up 33.2% from the same month last year. The average daily export figure was USD 880 million, a 27.4% increase and another record high for August.
ICT exports saw their growth rate remain in the 30% range for two straight months and rose for the 15th consecutive month since June last year.
By region, China was the top market for ICT exports with USD 9.67 billion, up 36.3% from the same month last year and marking positive growth for the 12th straight month. Such shipments to other leading markets all rose including Vietnam (18.2%), the U.S. (41.7%), the European Union (22.1%) and Japan (33.8%).
By item, semiconductors saw exports surge 42.2% to USD 11.79 billion due to the continuous rise in demand for mobile devices and computers.
Exports of displays also grew for the 12th month in a row thanks to brisk performance by OLED screens, contributing to the overall jump. Premium cellphones grew a robust 67.7% as they were launched in the latter half of the year.
ICT imports last month grew 23.7% to USD 11.38 billion, thus the ICT sector saw a trade surplus of USD 8.89 billion.
Source: Korea.net