South Korea's exports increased 6.1 percent in the first 10 days of April from a year earlier on the back of brisk overseas sales of semiconductors and vehicles, customs data showed Tuesday.

Total outbound shipments reached $11.2 billion during the cited period, up from $10.5 billion tallied over the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.

The increase was led by a 51.8 percent on-year gain in exports of semiconductors and a 23.2 percent surge in passenger cars.

Exports to China rose 10 percent over the 10-day period from a year earlier and those to the United States jumped 18 percent on-year, while shipments to the European Union sank 17.1 percent on-year.

Meanwhile, imports jumped 24.8 percent to $12.3 billion over the cited period, the data showed.

Consequently, the country logged a trade deficit of $1.1 billion, backtracking from the previous year's surplus of $692 million.

Asia's fourth-largest economy saw its outbound shipments make a turnaround from a two-year-long slump in November last year on the back of recovering world trade and rising oil prices.

Last month, exports expanded 13.7 percent to mark the fifth consecutive on-year growth for the first time since December 2011. (Yonhap)