By Jihoon Lee
SEOUL, June 1 (Reuters) – South Korea’s exports grew at the strongest annual rate in more than four decades in May, beating market expectations, as chip sales hit a record on a global boom in AI investment.
Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a bellwether for global trade, rose 53.2% from a year earlier to a record high of $87.75 billion, preliminary trade data showed on Monday, exceeding the median 48.4% increase forecast in a Reuters poll.
It was the 12th consecutive month of exports growing on a year-on-year basis and the biggest percentage rise since January 1984.
Exports of semiconductors jumped 169.4% to a record monthly high of $37.16 billion, as memory chip prices continued to rise on growing investment by U.S. technology firms, according to the trade ministry.
Computer sales also surged 290.7% on AI server demand, while petroleum products climbed 46.6% on high oil prices. Exports of automobiles fell 5.9%, weighed by supply disruptions in the Middle East and the impact of U.S. tariffs.
By destination, shipments to the U.S. and China were up 59.1% and 80.9%, respectively. Those to the Middle East were down 7.7%.
Last week, the country’s central bank raised its economic growth forecast for this year to 2.6% from 2.0%, after the trade-reliant economy delivered its strongest growth in nearly six years last quarter on booming chip exports.
Imports rose 20.8% in May to $60.80 billion, weaker than the median 21.5% increase expected by economists but still the strongest since August 2022.
The country’s trade balance stood at a surplus of $26.95 billion, wider than $23.75 billion in the previous month and an all-time high.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Jamie Freed)
