South Korea’s exports inched down from a year earlier in January, but its trade surplus jumped as imports dropped at a faster rate, the government said Sunday.

The country’s overall outbound shipments slipped 0.4 percent on-year to $45.37 billion last month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports plunged 11 percent on-year to about $39.84 billion.

The trade surplus came to $5.53 billion, compared with a surplus of $810 million in the same month last year.

January marked the 36th consecutive month the country has posted a trade surplus. Both imports and exports were influenced by a plunge in global oil prices.

“Combined shipments of all other products except petroleum and petrochemical products rose 6.6 percent on-year in January, reflecting a strong growth of exports for goods that are not affected by the drop in oil prices,” the ministry said in a press release.

Shipments of semiconductors, the country’s single-largest export item, surged 13.7 percent on-year with exports of ships spiking 62.5 percent. 

(Yonhap)