South Korea’s exports of information technology products rose 11.6 percent from a year earlier in October, data showed Monday, apparently due to the rising global demand for mobile devices.

Outbound shipments of IT products reached US$16.23 billion last month, marking the highest amount since the $15.15 billion tallied in May, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

South Korea’s trade surplus in the IT sector also widened to an all-time high by jumping 19.7 percent on-year to reach $8.4 billion over the cited period.

The ministry attributed the growth in exports to a sharp increase in outbound shipments of smartphones and semiconductors.

Exports of mobile handsets surged 30.5 percent over the cited period to reach $2.9 billion, with smartphones accounting for an all-time high of $1.7 billion won, the ministry’s data showed.

Shipments of semiconductors also spiked 14.9 percent on-year to $5.3 billion on the back of an increase in sales of memory chips, which climbed 43.1 percent to $2.29 billion.

By nation, exports of IT products to the United States rose 28.6 percent on-year to $1.41 billion with shipments to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations jumping 33.4 percent to $2.16 billion.

Shipments to China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, gained 3.4 percent on-year to $7.84 billion. Sales to eurozone countries added 10.7 percent to $1.49 billion over the cited period.

The ministry said South Korea’s export of IT goods is expected to continue its growth in 2013 on the back of the global economy’s recovery trend and rising seasonal demand of such products at the end of the year.

South Korea’s import of IT goods, meanwhile, came to $7.76 billion, up 4 percent from a year earlier, with inbound shipments of mobile handsets soaring 90.9 percent to reach $540 million. (Yonhap News)