Exports of ICT Products
The Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy announced on April 13 that South Korea’s ICT sector exports decreased by 5.0% year on year last month to total US$13.97 billion. The exports from the sector fell for six months in a row. The rate of decrease was 1.6% in October last year, 7.0% in November, 14.7% in December, 17.8% in January 2016 and 9.8% in the following month.
The exports of mobile phones increased 7.9% from a year ago to US$2.32 billion. New models such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5 led the growth. On the contrary, semiconductor exports declined by 1.8% to US$5.29 billion. Still, the rate of decrease was reduced from the previous month’s double-digit level as mobile and packaged semiconductor exports showed some recovery. The exports of display panels fell 25.2% to US$2.15 billion and those of computers and peripherals decreased 8.2% to US$620 million.
The exports to the United States increased by 40.0% to US$1.82 billion while those to Vietnam and India rose to US$1.45 billion and US$350 million, up 43.9% and 85.1% from a year earlier, respectively. The exports to China fell 9.1% to US$7.02 billion and those to the EU and Latin America decreased by 15.7% and 37.8% to US$720 million and US$480 million, respectively.
In the same month, South Korea recorded US$8.01 billion in ICT sector imports, up 4.5% from a year ago. Mobile phones accounted for US$870 million (up 30.9%), semiconductor took up US$3.44 billion (up 7.4%) and digital TV represented US$50 million (up 57.2%). Display panel imports fell 22.8% to US$390 million. In that period, South Korea recorded an ICT sector trade surplus of US$5.96 billion while the country’s total trade surplus reached US$9.8 billion.