South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products demonstrated remarkable growth in March, more than doubling year-over-year. This significant surge was primarily fueled by robust global demand for semiconductors, a direct result of the burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) boom, government data released on Tuesday confirmed.
Outbound ICT shipments soared to an impressive $43.51 billion last month, a substantial increase from $20.52 billion recorded in the same period a year prior, as detailed by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Notably, this achievement marks a historic milestone: it is the first time South Korea’s monthly ICT exports have surpassed the $40 billion mark specifically for the month of March.
While imports also saw an increase, rising 32.2 percent year-on-year to $16.15 billion, the robust export performance led to a substantial trade surplus of $27.36 billion within the critical ICT sector.
“The ICT sector firmly solidified its position as a core growth engine for the South Korean economy last month,” stated the ministry in its official release, highlighting that “ICT exports constituted 50.5 percent of the nation’s total exports, which amounted to $86.13 billion.”
Analyzing product categories, semiconductor exports experienced an astounding 151 percent surge, reaching $32.84 billion from $13.06 billion a year earlier. This dramatic growth was underpinned by vigorous demand from global AI data centers, propelling the semiconductor industry.
Smartphone exports also exhibited strong performance in March, jumping 57 percent year-on-year to $1.54 billion. This was primarily attributed to the strong market reception and sales of newly launched premium smartphone models.
Shipments of computers and related equipment nearly tripled, skyrocketing to $3.59 billion from $1.31 billion. This significant increase reflects the escalating demand for high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) specifically utilized in expanding AI data center infrastructure.
Conversely, not all ICT segments experienced growth. Exports of display panels saw a decline of 9.3 percent, totaling $1.49 billion. This downturn was largely influenced by weaker demand for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products within the broader IT sector.
Geographically, exports to the United States showed exceptional growth, almost tripling to $8 billion from $2.77 billion in the previous year. This impressive performance was driven by surging sales of South Korean chips, smartphones, and computers in the US market.
