South Korea's ICT exports continue to decline in February, with semiconductor exports dropping by 41.5%

According to a report from Yonhap News Agency on March 14th, the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT released statistics showing that the country's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) exports in February amounted to $12.82 billion, a decrease of 32% year-on-year and the eighth consecutive monthly decline since July last year.

Looking at the different product categories, semiconductor exports decreased by 41.5% year-on-year, displays decreased by 42.2%, computers and peripherals decreased by 58.6%, while phone exports decreased by 5.5%. However, communication equipment exports increased by 0.8%. Specifically, the export decline for semiconductor memory has exceeded 50% for two consecutive months, while system chip exports decreased by 25.5%, and Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) and Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) decreased by 39.3% and 43% year-on-year, respectively.

In terms of export destinations, exports to China (including Hong Kong) decreased by 39.4%, to Vietnam decreased by 31.7%, to the United States decreased by 20.7%, to the EU decreased by 23.5%, and to Japan decreased by 4.8%. As a result of the decline in export revenue, the proportion of the ICT industry in the overall exports decreased to 25.6%.

In terms of imports, South Korea's February ICT product imports were $11 billion, a decrease of 3.6% compared to the same period last year, with a trade surplus of $1.82 billion.

Although South Korea still maintains a trade surplus in the ICT sector, the decline is still significant compared to the $7.45 billion surplus in February last year. As previously reported, data released by South Korea's customs agency showed that due to continued weak semiconductor exports, exports in the first 10 days of March decreased by 16.2% year-on-year to $15.8 billion. Semiconductor exports during this period plummeted by 41.2%, reaching only $2.26 billion due to low global demand. The data shows that semiconductor exports fell by 41.2% year-on-year.