South Korea's overall trade volume has reached over US$1 trillion as of Friday for four straight years, setting course for a record high for the country's annual trade volume, the trade ministry said.

As of 1:07 p.m., the country's total exports came to $520.17 billion with imports coming to $479.83 billion, an official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy told Yonhap.

"The country has continued to top the $1 trillion mark since 2011, but it had never done so before the start of December," the official said, asking not to be identified.

It marked the shortest period of time for the country to meet the $1 trillion mark, the ministry said. 

Another official has said the country's total trade volume will likely reach a record high of $1.1 trillion this year with exports growing around 2 percent on-year to some $570 billion.

The country's overall exports have grown 2.9 percent on-year to $447.13 billion in the first 10 months of the year, the ministry said earlier.

The $1.1 trillion in total trade will likely make South Korea the world's eighth-largest trader, the ministry official has said.

An earlier report from the state-run Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade said the country's outbound shipments are expected to breach $600 billion for the first time in its history next year, growing 4.5 percent from this year to about $604.3 billion.

The country's overall trade volume is expected to reach $1.17 trillion in 2015, according to the report. (Yonhap)