SEOUL, March 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's knowledge services trade logged a deficit of over 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, central bank data showed Thursday.
The trade deficit in cultural, information and knowledge services reached 10.25 billion dollars in 2025, higher than a deficit of 7.37 billion dollars in the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was attributable to a significant expansion in subscriptions to services such as artificial intelligence (AI) and over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms.
Exports and imports in the services sector amounted to 41.46 billion dollars and 51.71 billion dollars each.
The information and communication services and the cultural and leisure services posted a surplus of 51.9 billion dollars and 0.98 billion dollars each.
The Asian country reported a deficit of 7.03 billion dollars in intellectual property royalties and 9.39 billion dollars in professional and business services.
By region, South Korea recorded a surplus of 6.90 billion dollars in the Asian market, but the country registered a deficit of 7.72 billion dollars in North America and 3.69 billion dollars in Europe. ■
