S. Korea's ICT exports exceed $20 billion for fourth month

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT's November ICT export and import trends published today, the export value last month reached $20.5 billion, marking $20 billion for four consecutive months since August. The increase rate compared to the same period last year was limited to 14.8%. The year-on-year increase rate, which had been in the 30% range from April to July, fell to the 20% range from August to October and dropped to the 10% range last month. The cumulative export value until November reached $212.4 billion, an increase of 26.1% compared to the same period last year.

The phenomenon of semiconductors, computers, and peripheral devices driving exports continued last month. The export value of memory semiconductors surged to $7.96 billion, a 52.0% increase due to the expanded investment in artificial intelligence (AI) servers that increased the demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The export value of system semiconductors increased by 1.9% to $3.96 billion.

The overall export increase rate of semiconductors was 30.3%, maintaining double-digit growth for 13 consecutive months. The cumulative export value of semiconductors until November reached $127.5 billion, setting a new all-time high. The export value of computers and peripheral devices surged by 98.6% to $1.15 billion due to increased demand for solid-state drives (SSD) for data centre servers.

However, the export value of displays decreased by 20.1% to $1.67 billion. The export value of mobile phones fell by 6.2% to $1.45 billion. Poor demand for components and other factors affected the decrease in exports. The export value of telecommunications equipment also declined by 3.8% to $200 million.