SEOUL, Nov. 11 ( Yonhap ) - South Korea's exports of products of information technology and communication (ICT ) reached the highest monthly figure of 16.230 million last month , and the surplus in the sector ICT also broke the monthly record , showed , on Monday , the government data .
As reported by the Ministries of Science, ICT and Future Planning and Commerce, Industry and Energy, exports of ICT products in October exceeded 16,000 million for the first time in history. This is an annual increase of 11.6 percent.
The country's trade surplus in ICT sector increased by 19.7 percent year on year to 8.470 billion, as imports increased 4 percent compared to last year, to 7,760 million.
The ministry attributed the export growth to a large increase in exports of smartphones and semiconductors.
The mobile phone exports recorded a growth of 30.5 percent to 2,940 million dollars, and smart phone shipments reached 1,700 million.
Semiconductor exports also soared 14.9 percent year on year to 5.330 million. On the other hand , exports of computers and screens registered a decline last month due to falling demand for these products , the ministry said .
By country , exports of ICT products to the United States increased by 28.6 percent year on year to 1.410 million, while those to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations grew 33.4 percent , to 2.160 million.
Shipments to China, the largest importer of ICT products in South Korea , rose 3.4 percent year on year to 7.840 million.
Meanwhile, cumulative exports of ICT in the first ten months of the year reached a record 141,110 million, an increase of 10.6 percent over the same period last year , and its trade surplus also reached 74,080 million in the period.