South Korea's exports of information and communication technology products dropped slightly from a year earlier in April, marking the third consecutive month of drop, the government said Monday.

Outbound shipments of ICT products amounted to US$14.34 billion last month, down 2.7 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports gained 3.9 percent on-year to $7.57 billion.

The country's trade surplus in the ICT sector dropped 9.1 percent on-year to $6.77 billion.

The fall in exports was largely attributed to a slump in the global economy.

"ICT exports continued to shrink from a year earlier due to worsening conditions for the country's exports, such as a dip in global trade of ICT products," the ministry said in a press release.

In the first two months of the year, ICT trade volume of the world's top 70 countries plunged 11.4 percent on-year, it added.

By country, exports to China, the world's single largest importer of South Korea's ICT products, gained 1.8 percent on-year to $7.5 billion as shipments of semiconductors jumped 10.3 percent to $3.21 billion.

Shipments to the United States plunged 26.8 percent on-year to

$1.26 billion with exports to European Union countries also tumbling 29.8 percent to $780 million.

By product, shipments of semiconductors gained 6.9 percent to some $5.16 billion, making semiconductors the country's single largest export item out of all products shipped by South Korea.

Shipments of computers and related parts jumped 18.2 percent to

$643 million while exports of mobile communication devices, including mobile and smartphones, slipped 6.8 percent to $2.47 billion, the ministry said. (Yonhap)