South Korea's automobile exports shrank significantly from a year earlier in April amid a continued economic slowdown in most advanced and emerging markets, the government said Monday.

In April, South Korea shipped 282,019 vehicles, down 6 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"Despite a rise in shipments to the United States, one of the world's largest markets for automobiles, the country's exports dropped 6 percent in April amid a growing global competition due to a weak Japanese yen and the euro, as well as a continued economic downturn in newly emerging markets, including Russia, Latin America and the Middle East," the ministry said in a press release.

The country's overall auto output shrank 2.2 percent on-year to 424,402 cars in April as the large cut in exports more than offset a 2.7 percent gain in domestic sales.

Sales of imported vehicles, on the other hand, jumped 14.7 percent on-year to 20,831 units last month.

In the first four months of the year, sales of locally produced cars gained 1.5 percent on-year to 473,407 while those of imported vehicles spiked 30.6 percent to 82,959. (Yonhap)