South Korea’s exports of information technology products rose to a 24-month high last month on a spike in shipments of mobile phones and semiconductors, the government said Wednesday.

Exports of IT products in October grew 6.1 percent from the same period last year to US$14.55 billion, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Imports surged 10.9 percent on-year to $7.45 billion with the country’s trade surplus in the IT sector coming to $7.1 billion.

The ministry attributed the surge in exports partly to a large increase in outbound shipments of mobile phones, including smartphones, to Europe.

Shipments of mobile phones to Europe jumped 79.8 percent on-year to $380 million in October with the country’s total mobile phone exports coming to $2.26 billion, up 18.1 percent from a year earlier.

“South Korea’s mobile phone makers further widened their gap, in terms of their combined global market share, with other competitors, such as the United States’ Apple Inc., making the country the world’s largest supplier of mobile phones for the sixth consecutive quarter in the third quarter,” the ministry said in a press release.

The combined global market share of South Korea’s mobile phone manufacturers grew from 37.1 percent in the second quarter to 39.5 percent in the third quarter ended Sept. 30.

Shipments of semiconductors also helped bring the country’s overall IT exports to a two-year high, growing 6.8 percent on-year to $4.64 billion, the largest amount recorded so far this year, according to the ministry.

By country, China, together with its special administrative district of Hong Kong, imported a total of $7.58 billion worth of IT products from South Korea, which represents a 14.8 percent spike from a year earlier and more than half of South Korea’s total IT exports last month.

Shipments to the 10-member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations surged 15.8 percent on-year to $1.62 billion with those to Japan also jumping 16.1 percent to $770 million.

Exports to the United States, on the other hand, plunged 30.2 percent from last year to $1.1 billion.

The ministry said the country’s IT exports will likely continue growing during the remainder of the year on a recovery of demand in Europe and the United States, but that the local currency’s appreciation against the U.S. dollar will work as a negative factor as it means less revenue and profits for local manufacturers from their products sold abroad. (Yonhap News)