Trade Vessels and Containers (CG)Korea’s trade balance also recorded a deficit in August.
It has been in the red for five months since last April, and this is the first time in over 14 years.
This is because exports only increased by single digits, while imports increased more due to skyrocketing energy prices.
On the 1st, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the August import and export statistics.
Last month, exports were $56.67 billion, up 6.6% from the same month last year, and imports were $66.15 billion, up 28.2%.
As a result, the trade balance recorded a deficit of 9.47 billion dollars.
The trade balance continued to be in deficit for five consecutive months from April, but the deficit for five consecutive months was the first in over 14 years since December 2007 to April 2008.
Exports recorded $56.7 billion, which is more than $3 billion higher than the previous record of August last year ($53.3 billion). As a result, exports continued to increase for 22 consecutive months.
By item, six major items such as petroleum products and automobiles increased. Among them, petroleum products and automobiles ranked first in August and rechargeable batteries ranked first in history.
However, semiconductor exports fell for the first time in 26 months due to weak demand and falling prices.
Income hit an all-time high. In particular, imports of energy such as oil and gas stood at $18.5 billion, an increase of $8.9 billion from the same month last year ($9.7 billion).
[연합뉴스]
s ⓒ Yonhap News. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited
