South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 56th straight month in October but suffered a decline due to sluggish outbound shipments, central bank data showed Thursday.

The current account surplus reached $8.72 billion in October, compared with a $9.58 billion surplus a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).


But the October figure marks a rise from $8.07 billion in September. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.

It said the service balance deficit widened to $1.59 billion in October from $1.49 billion a year earlier.

In the primary income account, the country posted a surplus of $860 million in October, up from $530 million a year earlier.

Exports fell 6.3 percent on-year to $43.34 billion in October, and imports also declined 5 percent to $33.51 billion. (Yonhap)