▲ This photo shows shipping containers at a pier in South Korea's largest port city of Busan on Feb. 13, 2023. (Yonhap)

ICT exports-Jan tally

S. Korea's ICT exports fall for 7th straight month in Jan.

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products dropped for seven months in a row in January due to a global economic slowdown and waning demand for semiconductors, government data showed Tuesday.

Outbound shipments of ICT products came to US$13.1 billion last month, down 33.2 percent from $19.6 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The amount of monthly exports has been on the decline for seven straight months since July last year.

The country's ICT imports in January inched down 1.1 percent on-year to $12.2 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $890 million in the sector.

The monthly surplus is the lowest since July 1997, when the figure marked $870 million.

The ministry said ICT exports fell across nearly all product categories last month due to a slump in demand amid the global economic slowdown.

Exports of semiconductors, which accounted for nearly half of all ICT shipments, nosedived 43.5 percent on-year to $6.2 billion.

Those of displays and computers tumbled 37.7 percent and 58.7 percent to $1.5 billion and $630 million, respectively.

Mobile phones were the only positive sector, posting a 24.4 percent on-year rise to $1.4 billion in exports, thanks to the upcoming global release of a new smartphone, Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S23.

By nation, combined shipments to China, South Korea's largest trading partner, and Hong Kong plunged 42.9 percent on-year to $5.3 billion.

Exports to Vietnam, the United States and Japan also decreased 30.5 percent, 18.7 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.

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