South Korea's imports increased sharply in August in both quantity and value, led by the machinery and chemical sectors, the central bank data showed Monday.

The import volume index jumped 7.5 percent to 124.58 in the month from a year earlier, marking the largest growth since late 2014, according to the Bank of Korea. It's a 5.6 percent rise from 117.94 recorded in July.

By item, the imports of machinery and chemical products rose 22.7 percent and 18.9 percent on-year, respectively.

Metal, coal, petrochemical, fabric and leather products also recorded around 10 percent growth in import volume.

"The imports of semiconductor- and display-related machinery expanded sharply last month," a BOK official said. "The outlook that the businesses will get better next year seems to have been reflected."

The import value index also grew 0.7 percent to 98.77 in August from a year earlier. It's the first time for the index to post an on-year rise in two years. In July, the index shrank 13.1 percent from the same period in 2015.

The BOK official said it's partly attributable to a slowed drop in global oil prices.

On the export side, the volume continued to expand in August with the value still declining.

The export volume index gained 3.9 percent on-year to 131.15, spurred by more exports of agricultural and petrochemical products, as well as precision machines.

The export value index came to 105.31, down 1.4 percent from August last year, but it was the lowest drop in 20 months. (Yonhap)