Fueled by a semiconductor export boom, South Korea’s current account surplus reached $49.73 billion (approximately 70.7 trillion won) in June, shattering the monthly record for the second straight month. Goods exports topped $110 billion for the first time in history, while the goods balance surplus also set a new all-time high.<\/p>\n
According to preliminary balance of payments data released by the Bank of Korea on the 6th, the June current account surplus exceeded the previous record set in May ($38.61 billion) by $11.12 billion, or 28.8%. This pushed the cumulative first-half surplus to $191.01 billion\u2014roughly four times the $47.87 billion recorded in the same period last year. In just six months, South Korea has already achieved 76% of the Bank of Korea’s full-year forecast of $250 billion (approximately 355.6 trillion won), which was issued in May.<\/p>\n
The expansion of the current account surplus was overwhelmingly driven by the goods balance. The June goods surplus reached $47.89 billion (approximately 68.1 trillion won), also a record high, surpassing May’s $37.86 billion. Goods exports totaled $112.37 billion, breaking through the $100 billion mark on a monthly basis for the first time and surging 84.5% year-over-year. Imports rose 38.6% to $64.48 billion, but export growth far outpaced it.<\/p>\n
Information technology (IT) products were at the center of the export surge. On a customs clearance basis, exports of computer peripherals (SSDs) skyrocketed 282.7% year-over-year, while semiconductor exports jumped 196.9%. Overall IT export growth, including wireless communication devices (up 60.6%), reached 160.4%. Among non-IT items, petroleum products (up 47.5%), chemical products (up 18.6%), and steel products (up 17.9%) showed recovery, while passenger car exports also turned positive with a 6.1% increase.<\/p>\n
By region, exports grew broadly across major markets, including Southeast Asia (up 105.7%), China (up 92.0%), and the United States (up 78.6%). Exports to the U.S. totaled $20.02 billion. Shipments to Central and South America (up 36.1%), the European Union (up 31.8%), and Japan (up 15.8%) also increased, though exports to the Middle East declined 8.5%.<\/p>\n
On the import side, corporate capital expenditure expansion amid the semiconductor industry recovery was notable. Capital goods imports rose 35.3% year-over-year, with semiconductor manufacturing equipment imports up 42.4%, semiconductor imports up 64.1%, and information and communication device imports up 44.0%. Raw material imports also increased 30.5%, led by coal (up 63.0%), crude oil (up 50.3%), and chemical products (up 28.8%), while consumer goods imports rose 16.4%.<\/p>\n
The services balance recorded a deficit of $1.29 billion. Deficits were posted in other business services (-$1.59 billion), processing services (-$540 million), and intellectual property royalties (-$440 million). In contrast, the travel balance improved to a surplus of $440 million, driven by the second-largest travel revenue on record, as foreign visitor arrivals increased and outbound South Korean travelers decreased due to higher fuel surcharges. The transport balance ($200 million) and construction balance ($230 million) also contributed surpluses.<\/p>\n
The primary income balance, which reflects dividend and interest income earned from overseas assets, posted a surplus of $3.27 billion, widening from the previous month’s $2.17 billion. Notably, the dividend income surplus surged to $2.56 billion from $1.15 billion in May.<\/p>\n
In the financial account, net assets (assets minus liabilities) increased by $46.71 billion, the largest increase on record. In direct investment, South Korean residents’ overseas investments rose by $8.01 billion, while foreign direct investment in South Korea increased by $4.63 billion.<\/p>\n
In portfolio investment, South Korean residents’ net purchases of overseas stocks totaled $7.53 billion, while they were net sellers of bonds at $3.98 billion. Meanwhile, foreign investors staged a massive sell-off of South Korean equities. Foreign investment in domestic stocks decreased by $31.61 billion (approximately 45 trillion won), setting a record decline for the second consecutive month. A flood of profit-taking sell orders rewrote the record for the largest net selling in history.<\/p>\n
Foreign investment in South Korean bonds saw net purchases shrink to $5.29 billion in June from $6.4 billion in May, affected by quarter-end maturities despite inflows from passive funds tracking South Korea’s inclusion in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI). Derivative financial instruments increased by $6.11 billion, a sharp rise from the previous month’s $240 million, while reserve assets rebounded with a $1.45 billion increase after declining in May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fueled by a semiconductor export boom, South Korea’s current account surplus reached $49.73 billion (approximately 70.7 trillion won)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[456],"tags":[845,846,47808,56704,56705,42426,56700,56703,1136,56701,2590,56702,16173],"class_list":["post-110456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bank-of-korea","tag-bank-of-korea","tag-bok","tag-current-account","tag-financial-account","tag-foreigner-domestic-stock-investment","tag-goods-balance","tag-information-and-communication-devices","tag-primary-income-balance","tag-semiconductors","tag-services-balance","tag-ssd","tag-travel-balance","tag-wgbi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}