SEOUL, South Korea’s export logged a double-digit growth for the first 10 days of Nov, due to the continued global demand recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, customs office data showed today.

Export, which takes up about half of the South Korean economy, stood at 18.3 billion U.S. dollars, in the Nov 1-10 period, up 29.3 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.

Shipment of semiconductors, oil products and precision machinery increased in double figures during the cited 10-day period, but export for mobile devices posted a double-digit reduction.

Export to China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, surged 34.9 percent in the 10-day period, and those to the United States, the European Union (EU), Vietnam and Japan all expanded in double digits.

Import spiked 59 percent over the year to 21.2 billion dollars for the first 10 days of Nov, sending the trade deficit to 2.9 billion dollars.

Import for crude oil and oil products more than doubled in the period, amid a higher price for global crude oil, and those for chips and machinery, recorded a double-digit increase.

Import from China, the EU and Japan went up in double digits, and import from Saudi Arabia more than tripled in the 10-day period.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK