South Korea's semiconductor-driven export growth accelerated at a stronger-than-expected pace in October, bringing the country closer to its unprecedented $1 trillion annual export target.
The country, home to the world's two largest memory-chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, continues to benefit from the artificial-intelligence boom. The exploding AI infrastructure investment is driving demand for powerful computing chips on an unprecedented scale.
Exports from Asia's fourth-largest economy rose 93.7% from a year earlier to $115.28 billion, accelerating from September's revised 83.7% increase, according to preliminary data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Sunday.
That brought cumulative exports for the first 10 months of the year to $930 billion. The latest trade figures were stronger than expected, exceeding the median forecast for 86.7% growth in a Wall Street Journal survey of 11 economists.
Imports rose 36.0% to $72.78 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $42.50 billion in October. The surplus exceeded the market consensus estimate of $38.28 billion, but fell short of the prior month's revised record of $49.97 billion.
Semiconductor exports were the main driver of growth, more than tripling from a year earlier to $56.44 billion in October.
