Income Terms of Trade Index Reached New High Last Month

The Bank of Korea announced the foreign trade index and terms of trade for April on May 23. 

According to the report, the income terms of trade index amounted to 123.65 to set a new high since 1988, when the central bank began compiling the data. 

The figure rose by 9.9 percent from a year earlier and 3.3 percent from the preceding month, thanks mainly to significantly-increased exports and a drop in import prices attributable to the appreciation of the won. The income terms of the trade index can be defined as the quantity of goods that can be imported with total exports. 

The export volume index reached a new high at 138.47 as well, showing a 9.2 percent growth year on year. The total export value index, which is calculated by multiplying the export volume index by the export price index, was 135.06, slightly lower than the highest record of 135.3 of October last year. Meanwhile, the import price index was at the lowest level, 97.13, since April 2010.