South Korea logged a $24.82 billion trade surplus with the United States last year, up 18.5 percent from the previous year, according to data compiled by the US Department of Commerce on Sunday.

The country's shipments to the world's largest economy fell 1.9 percent on-year to $76.01 billion, while its imports dropped 9.4 percent to $51.21 billion over the cited period, the data showed.

South Korea was the US's 7th largest trading partner last year in terms of both exports and imports, the data showed.

Last year, the country's outbound shipments came to $512.8 billion, down 5.4 percent from 2019, in the face of the pandemic.

The South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest, suffered a 1 percent retreat last year, marking the sharpest contraction since the 1997 financial crisis.

South Korea expects outbound shipments to rebound 8.6 percent on-year in 2021. (Yonhap)