Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, posted a surplus of 6.8 billion U.S. dollars in October, staying in black since May, according to the Bank of Korea.
For the first 10 months of this year, the current account surplus amounted to 23.37 billion dollars, lower than 27.38 billion dollars tallied in the 10-month period of last year.
Trade surplus for goods came to 5.35 billion dollars in October, hovering in black for the seventh straight month.
Export grew 7.6 percent from a year earlier to 57 billion dollars in October, while import shrank 4.3 percent to 51.65 billion dollars.
The outbound shipment marked the first turnaround in the months since September last year.
Services account deficit came in at 1.25 billion dollars in October, down from a deficit of 3.19 billion dollars in the previous month.
Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, registered a surplus of 2.77 billion dollars in October on higher overseas dividend income.
Financial account, which measures cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, recorded a net outflow of 8.37 billion dollars in the cited month.
Overseas direct investment by domestic residents rose by 1.69 billion dollars, and foreign direct investment in South Korea increased by 2 billion dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents gained by 2.83 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds reduced by 1.58 billion dollars.
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