South Korea's ICT exports jump 24 pc in Dec on robust chip demand

Seoul, Jan 14 (IANS) South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products jumped 24 per cent in December from a year earlier, helped by robust sales of semiconductors, government data showed on Tuesday.

Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $22.66 billion last month, compared with $18.25 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Science and ICT said in a press release.

The country's ICT imports in December stood at $13.32 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $9.33 billion in the sector.

By product, semiconductor exports jumped 31.1 per cent on-year to $14.51 billion on high demand for artificial intelligence-related chips.

Exports of computers and communications equipment soared 97.2 per cent to $1.62 billion over the cited period, while shipments of mobile phones rose 19.3 per cent to $1.12 billion, the release said.

Shipments of display panels fell 1.2 per cent to $1.69 billion due to slowing demand for TVs and personal computers.

By nation, combined shipments to China and Hong Kong climbed 13.4 percent on-year to $8.91 billion on increased sales of chips, displays and mobile phones.

Exports to Vietnam and Japan went up 2.7 percent and 14.3 per cent, respectively, to $3.02 billion and $360 million.

Shipments to the United States jumped 41.3 per cent on-year to $3.59 billion, while shipments to the European Union fell 3.9 per cent to $910 million.

For the whole of 2024, ICT exports rose 25.9 per cent on-year to $235 billion, while ICT imports gained 4.9 per cent to $143.2 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $91.8 billion, the ministry said.

Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by the Sakshi Post team and is auto-generated from syndicated feed.