SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's August exports surged in double digits, driven by a record-breaking global demand for locally made semiconductors, government data showed Tuesday.
The outbound shipments, which account for about half of the export-led economy, soared 68.7 percent from a year earlier to 98.25 billion U.S. dollars in August, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
It marked the Asian country's third-highest performance, topping 90 billion dollars for a third consecutive month.
The daily average exports spiked 72.5 percent to 4.47 billion dollars, surpassing 4 billion dollars for a fourth straight month.
Imports expanded 22.5 percent to 63.51 billion dollars last month, sending the trade surplus to 34.75 billion dollars. The surplus exceeded 30 billion dollars for a third successive month.
Of the country's 20 major export items, 14 products saw a growth in outbound shipments. Among them, semiconductor exports skyrocketed 209 percent to hit an all-time high of 46.65 billion dollars, surpassing 40 billion dollars for three consecutive months.
The milestone was attributed to the continuous expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investments by global hyperscalers such as Google and Amazon that led to price hikes in memory chips.
Exports to the United States surged 89.3 percent to 16.50 billion dollars as a result of robust demand for chips, steel products, computers and oil products.
Shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations shot up 75.4 percent to 19.09 billion dollars, while exports to the European Union picked up 14.6 percent to 6.62 billion dollars.
On the import side, the import of three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, gained 15.3 percent to 12.68 billion dollars last month.
Non-energy imports rose 24.4 percent to 50.83 billion dollars on strong demand for semiconductor equipment and non-ferrous metals. ■