In June, South Korea recorded a current account surplus of nearly $50 billion, marking the second consecutive month of record highs. Strong exports, particularly in semiconductors, drove the increase in surplus.
The Bank of Korea announced on August 6 that the current account surplus for June was $49.73 billion, surpassing the previous record of $38.61 billion set in May.
Park Seong-gon, head of the Bank of Korea's International Balance of Payments Team, stated, "It is still difficult to compare the current account surplus for the first half of the year with major countries abroad, but we are ranked second among OECD countries."
South Korea has maintained a surplus for 38 consecutive months since May 2023, marking the second-longest streak since 2019, when it recorded 83 months of continuous surpluses. The cumulative current account surplus for the year through June reached $191.01 billion, quadrupling the $47.87 billion recorded during the same period last year.
Kim Young-hwan, director of the Bank of Korea's Economic Statistics Division, noted, "Excluding April, which saw significant dividend payments, we have consistently set record highs for the current account surplus since February, thanks to unprecedented semiconductor export growth, which accounted for most of the increase in the goods surplus."
He added, "Although the trade balance in July decreased compared to June, the strong semiconductor exports continued, and we expect to see a record high surplus for the month based on goods trade."
In terms of categories, the goods surplus reached a record $47.89 billion, with exports hitting $112.37 billion, surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time. Exports of both IT and non-IT items increased significantly.
Specifically, exports of computer peripherals (SSD) surged by 282.7%, semiconductors by 196.9%, and wireless communication devices by 60.6%. Other categories, including petroleum products (47.5%), chemical products (18.6%), steel products (17.9%), and machinery and precision instruments (8.6%), also saw increases.
Imports rose by 38.6% to $64.48 billion, driven by increases in raw materials (30.5%), capital goods (35.3%), and consumer goods (16.4%). Raw material imports were boosted by coal (63.0%) and crude oil (50.3%), while capital goods included semiconductors (64.1%) and information and communication devices (44.0%).
The services account recorded a deficit of $1.29 billion, slightly widening from May. However, this was a significant improvement compared to the $2.8 billion deficit during the same period last year.
Within the services account, the travel balance showed a surplus of $440 million for the second consecutive month, attributed to an increase in inbound travelers, while outbound travelers decreased due to rising fuel surcharges.
However, the intellectual property rights balance turned to a deficit of $440 million, as the settlement of concentrated intellectual property payments from the previous month led to a significant drop in income.
The primary income balance expanded from a surplus of $2.17 billion in May to $3.27 billion in June, with dividend income increasing to $2.56 billion due to higher dividend payments and a base effect from reduced securities investment dividend payments from the previous month.
The net assets in the financial account rose to $46.71 billion, marking the largest increase on record, surpassing the previous high of $31.08 billion in March.
Direct investments saw an increase in domestic investments abroad of $8.01 billion and foreign investments in South Korea of $4.63 billion.
In securities investment, domestic investments abroad increased by $3.56 billion, while foreign investments in South Korea decreased by $26.32 billion, marking the second-largest drop on record after March's $34.04 billion.
The increase in securities investment assets was limited to $3.56 billion due to a significant decrease in debt securities. Notably, stock investments saw a record net sell-off of $31.61 billion due to profit-taking sales, while debt securities increased by $5.29 billion, reflecting a reduced increase due to the maturity of bonds at the end of the quarter.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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