Korea's ICT Exports in May Hit 4th All Time Monthly High

Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) exports in May amounted to US$18.57 billion, up 20.6 percent from the same period of last year and the fourth all-time monthly high.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said that Korea’s ICT exports increased by a double digit for the 18th consecutive month since December 2016.

By item, semiconductor exports surged 43.5 percent to US$10.94 billion. Exports of semiconductors exceeded US$10 billion for the second time since reaching US$10.98 billion in March of last year.

Mobile phone exports rose 4.5 percent to US$1.41 billion. Exports of mobile phones swelled year on year for the first time in 26 months since March of 2016.

Exports of computers and peripherals increased 28.6 percent to US$ 950 million, while shipments of solid state drives (SSDs) leaped up 12.5 percent to US$ 490 million.

By region, exports to China shot up 32.7 percent to US$10.4 billion, hitting an all time high.

Exports to the US jumped 32.2 percent to US$1.78 billion, while those to the European Union expanded 28.4 percent to US$1.01 billion.

But exports to Vietnam dropped 13 percent to US$1.91 billion due to a fall in exports of displays and mobile phones.

ICT imports rose 9 percent to US$8.73 billion last month with semiconductors, computers and peripheral devices taking the lead. As a result, ICT trade surplus amounted to US$ 9.84 billion.