Seoul: South Korea's current account surplus continued its record-breaking trend in June, propelled by robust semiconductor exports, as revealed by central bank data on Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the surplus reached a historic US$49.73 billion in June, surpassing the previous high of $38.61 billion recorded in May. This marked the largest monthly current account surplus ever for the nation, continuing an unprecedented performance for the second consecutive month. Compared to the same month last year, the figure increased significantly from $13.97 billion.
South Korea has maintained a current account surplus every month since May 2023, with June marking the 38th consecutive month of surplus. In 2025, the country reported its largest annual surplus on record at $123.05 billion, exceeding the previous high of $105.1 billion set in 2015.
The goods account recorded a surplus of $47.89 billion in June, marking the largest monthly surplus on record. Exports surged 84.5 percent year-on-year to $112.37 billion, surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time, while imports increased by 38.6 percent to approximately $64.48 billion. Information technology product exports soared 160.4 percent from the previous year, with chip shipments rising by 196.9 percent and computer peripherals by 282.7 percent.
The services account posted a deficit of $1.29 billion in June, a widening from the previous month's $1.09 billion loss, due to increasing intellectual property-related payments. The primary income account, which includes wages of foreign workers and dividend and interest income from abroad, reported a surplus of $3.27 billion, driven by increased dividend income.