South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products reached a second monthly high in October on the back of solid global demand for chips and displays, data showed Thursday.

Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $19.92 billion last month, up 21.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the from the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The October tally marked the second-largest amount for the month on record and the 17th consecutive month of on-year gains since June last year.

Imports stood at $12.11 billion last month, up 18.5 percent from the previous year, resulting in a trade surplus of $7.81 billion, the data showed.

Chips and displays boosted the country's ICT exports, with semiconductor shipments surging 28.4 percent on-year to $11.23 billion, topping the $10 billion mark for the sixth consecutive month.

Exports of memory chips rose 28.1 percent on-year to $6.95 billion, and non-memory chips hiked 32.3 percent to $3.73 billion over the cited period.

Display exports also increased 5.8 percent on-year to $2.24 billion thanks to strong demand for organic light-emitting diodes used in smartphones and televisions, according to the data.

By destination, shipments to China, South Korea's largest trading partner, rose 25.2 percent on-year to $9.32 billion thanks to demand across the board. Chip exports to the country rose 27.8 percent to $6.54 billion, and display shipments went up 9.2 percent to $870 million.

Exports to Vietnam also marked a 10.9 percent increase to $3.25 billion, with those to the United States advancing 29 percent to $2.38 billion and those to the European Union rising 6 percent to $1.01 billion, the data showed.

South Korea's total exports in October jumped 23.9 percent from a year earlier to a record $55.5 billion, extending their gains to 12 consecutive months on strong auto and chip sales. (Yonhap)