SEOUL, March 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's current account surplus hit a record high for January, thanks to strong demand for locally-made semiconductors, central bank data showed Friday.
The current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, totaled 13.26 billion U.S. dollars in January, the largest ever for the month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It stayed in black for the 33rd consecutive month since May 2023, driven by the semiconductor export boom.
Trade surplus for goods came to 15.17 billion dollars in January, roughly 4.5 times larger than the surplus recorded in the same month of last year.
Exports soared 30.0 percent from a year earlier to 65.51 billion dollars in January, while imports expanded 7.0 percent to 50.34 billion dollars.
Service account deficit reached 3.80 billion dollars in January, as compared to 2.35 billion dollars a year earlier.
The primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, registered a surplus of 2.72 billion dollars on solid dividend income from foreign stock investments.
Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flows without transactions in goods and services, achieved a net outflow of 5.63 billion dollars in the cited month.
Overseas direct investment by domestic residents swelled by 7.04 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea increased by 5.34 billion dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by residents jumped by 13.46 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds mounted by 4.69 billion dollars. ■