South Korea's exports of information and communications technology products rose at the fastest clip in nearly seven years in April on brisk global demand for semiconductors and displays, government data showed Wednesday.
A total of $15.55 billion worth of Korean-made ICT products were shipped overseas last month, up 24.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
(Yonhap)
It marked the highest on-year growth since August 2010 when monthly ICT exports soared 26.4 percent on-year.
Exports of ICT goods accounted for 30.5 percent of the country's total outbound shipments of $51 billion last month.
Meanwhile, ICT imports increased 8.5 percent to $7.88 billion in April, with the country logging a trade surplus of $7.68 billion in the sector.
The ministry said rising overseas demand for South Korean semiconductors, displays and computers drove the surge in ICT exports, offsetting weak exports of mobile phones.
Exports of semiconductors made by Asia's fourth-largest economy surged 59.1 percent on-year to $7.24 billion in April, while those of flat panels and computers gained 6.9 percent and 24 percent to $2.27 billion and $680 million, respectively.
But overseas shipments of mobile phones sank 19.3 percent on-year to $1.81 billion in the aftermath of the global production halt of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7.
By country, exports to China jumped 19.3 percent to $7.51 billion last month and those to the United States climbed 3.9 percent to $1.65 billion. (Yonhap)