South Korea’s exports witnessed an exceptional surge, jumping an impressive 86 percent year-on-year in the first ten days of June, newly released data revealed on Thursday. This robust performance, significantly driven by strong semiconductor shipments, marked a new historical high for the nation’s outbound trade.
During the period of June 1-10, total outbound shipments soared to $28.6 billion. This figure represents a substantial increase from the $15.4 billion recorded in the corresponding ten-day period last year, according to detailed statistics from the Korea Customs Service.
This remarkable export value sets a new record for any 10-day period in South Korea’s history, surpassing the previous peak of $25.2 billion achieved in April 2026.
When adjusted for the number of working days, the daily average export volume also demonstrated considerable growth, rising by 46.1 percent.
Meanwhile, imports also saw an increase, climbing 35.6 percent year-on-year to reach $23.4 billion over the same period. This resulted in a healthy trade surplus of $5.28 billion for South Korea, as indicated by the latest findings.
Drilling down by sector, exports of critical chips more than tripled, reaching an impressive $11 billion. This phenomenal growth in semiconductor exports is largely attributed to the ongoing global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, fueling high demand.
Chips now constitute a significant portion of South Korea’s total exports, accounting for 38.7 percent – an increase of 15.1 percentage points from a year earlier, underscoring their pivotal role in the nation’s economic output.
Other key export sectors also demonstrated strong performance. Outbound shipments of petroleum products rose by 68.7 percent to $1.93 billion, while exports of automobiles experienced a solid boost, shooting up 25.4 percent to $1.62 billion.
Geographically, exports to China, a major trading partner, doubled to $6.18 billion. Concurrently, shipments to the United States also saw a significant jump of 54.4 percent, totaling $4.53 billion, highlighting diversified export growth across key markets.
