South Korea recorded a current account surplus of $42.1 billion in July, driven by robust semiconductor exports. This marks the second consecutive month that the surplus has exceeded $40 billion, achieving the second-largest surplus on record.
According to preliminary statistics released by the Bank of Korea on September 4, the current account surplus for July was estimated at $42.08 billion (approximately 57.14 trillion won).
On a monthly basis, this follows the previous record of $49.73 billion set in June, continuing a trend of surpluses above $40 billion. The cumulative current account surplus for the year up to July reached $233.09 billion, nearly five times the surplus of $49.73 billion recorded during the same period last year.
The Bank of Korea has revised its annual current account surplus forecast significantly upward, projecting it to reach $450 billion, up from the previous estimate of $250 billion. This figure would be 3.7 times larger than the previous record of $123.1 billion set in 2025.
In terms of components, the goods surplus for July was $40.43 billion, marking the second-highest on record, just below the $47.89 billion surplus recorded in June.
Exports totaled $100.45 billion, a 65.3% increase compared to the same month last year. After surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time in June, exports have remained above this threshold for two consecutive months, driven by strong demand for both IT and non-IT products.
By category, significant increases were seen in exports of computer peripherals (SSD, up 344.5%), semiconductors (up 176.3%), and wireless communication devices (up 51.2%). Other categories such as petroleum products (up 35.7%), chemical products (up 19.1%), and steel products (up 11.3%) also showed positive growth.
Imports rose to $60.02 billion, a 21.7% increase, but this growth rate was lower than that of exports. The increase in imports was driven by raw materials (up 29.1%) and capital goods (up 36.7%), while consumer goods saw a decline of 3.0%, marking the first decrease in 15 months.
Imports of capital goods and raw materials, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment (up 60.1%), semiconductors (up 56.7%), crude oil (up 54.2%), gas (up 46.8%), and coal (up 36.0%), also increased.
The services account recorded a deficit of $1.97 billion, slightly larger than the $1.93 billion deficit from the same month last year. The travel balance turned negative with a deficit of $340 million, influenced by an increase in outbound travelers during the peak summer travel season and the designation of a public holiday for the Constitution Day.
The primary income account surplus expanded from $3.27 billion in June to $4.35 billion in July, driven by an increase in dividend income, which rose to $3.83 billion from $2.56 billion the previous month.
The net financial account (assets minus liabilities) increased by $40.32 billion, although the growth rate was lower than the previous month, it still marked the second-largest increase on record.
Direct investment saw an increase of $3.36 billion in domestic investments abroad, while foreign direct investment in South Korea decreased by $780 million.
In securities investment, domestic investments abroad increased significantly by $13.57 billion, primarily in stocks, compared to an increase of $3.56 billion the previous month. Foreign investments in domestic securities turned positive with an increase of $8.17 billion.
Foreign investments in domestic stocks amounted to $5.98 billion, marking a return to net buying for the first time in six months, following a record drop of $31.61 billion the previous month.
Investments in foreign debt securities increased from $5.29 billion in June to $2.19 billion in July, although the growth rate slowed.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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