Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, recorded a surplus of 3.86 billion U.S. dollars in May, down 6.55 billion dollars from the same month of last year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Trade surplus for goods declined 3.91 billion dollars from a year earlier to 2.74 billion dollars in May.
Export advanced 20.5 percent to 61.7 billion dollars on strong global demand for semiconductors and oil products, while import surged 32.4 percent to 58.96 billion dollars on higher commodity prices.
Coal import more than tripled in the cited month, and those for crude oil and natural gas soared 65.0 percent and 73.9 percent respectively.
Services account balance, which gauges the flow of travel, transport and royalty, registered a deficit of 20 million dollars in May, but it was down from a deficit of 730 million dollars a year earlier.
Transport account surplus increased to 1.47 billion dollars in May from 1.06 billion dollars a year ago.
Travel account balance logged a deficit of 640 million dollars in May, down from a deficit of 700 million dollars in the same month of last year.
Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, hit a surplus of 1.45 billion dollars in May.
Financial account, which measures cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, recorded a net outflow of 3.03 billion dollars in the month.
Overseas direct investment by domestic residents expanded by 5.47 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea grew by 1.37 billion dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents soared by 7.13 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds gained by 2.46 billion dollars.
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