Current account surplus, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, came in at 6.42 billion U.S. dollars in February, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The current account balance has stayed in the black for 22 months since May 2020, but is down by 1.64 billion dollars from a year earlier.
Trade surplus for goods declined by 1.59 billion dollars over the year to 4.27 billion dollars in February.
Import surged 25.9 percent to 49.6 billion dollars on higher price for crude oil and other commodities, while export advanced 19.1 percent to 53.87 billion dollars.
Services account balance, which gauges the flow of travel, transport cost and royalty, posted a surplus of 570 million dollars in February, an increase of 390 million dollars from a year earlier.
Transport account surplus gained 730 million dollars to 1.9 billion dollars in the cited month, but the travel account deficit added by 110 million dollars to 450 million dollars.
Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, recorded a surplus of 1.71 billion dollars in February, a decline of 580 million dollars from a year earlier.
Financial account, which measures cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, registered a net outflow of 8.3 billion dollars in February.
Overseas direct investment by domestic residents amounted to 7.65 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea came to 760 million dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents stood at 6.78 billion dollars in February.
Foreign investment in local stocks and bonds came in at 4.49 billion dollars.
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