South Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) product exports rose for the fourth month in a row in February, reaching US$16.5 billion, an increase of 29.1% over US$12.8 billion in the same period last year, according to data released by South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT on Thursday, driven by strong demand for semiconductors, displays, and computers.
ICT imports fell 6.7% year on year to US$10.3 billion in February, leading to a trade surplus of US$6.25 billion in this sector.
In terms of export varieties, as the growth of the artificial intelligence market boosted global chip demand, chip exports increased 62.9% year-on-year in February to reach 9.96 billion US dollars.
Among them, exports of memory chips (US$6.08 billion) and system chips (US$3.42 billion) increased by 108.1% and 27.2%, respectively, over the same period last year.
Display exports increased 18.7% to US$1.55 billion, and continued to grow for the seventh month, thanks to increased demand for OLED and LCD panels for TVs and mobile phones.
Computer exports increased 14% to US$750 million, the second consecutive month of growth, driven by increased demand for solid-state drives.
However, exports of mobile phones and communication devices fell by 21.3% and 6.7%, respectively, to US$810 million and US$200 million.
In terms of export destinations, ICT exports to mainland China and Hong Kong increased by 43.8% year on year to reach 7.37 billion US dollars, increasing for 4 consecutive months, mainly due to increased display exports.
Exports to Vietnam increased 24.3% to US$2.62 billion; exports to the US increased 13.5% to US$1.87 billion.
However, exports to the EU and Japan fell by 0.5% and 4.3%, respectively, to US$920 million and US$300 million.