South Korea's exports dropped for the ninth straight month in September, but its trade surplus hit the second-highest level in the country's history as imports slipped at a faster rate, the government said Thursday.

Outbound shipments came to $43.50 billion last month, down 8.3 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports plunged 21.8 percent on-year to $34.56 billion.

The country's trade surplus climbed to $8.94 billion from $3.26 billion a year earlier. The figure marks the second-largest monthly surplus in the country's history after the record high of $9.89 billion set in June.

September also marked the 44th straight month of surplus.

The drop in exports was largely attributed to a cut in export prices.

In September, the average price of South Korean goods shipped overseas plunged 13 percent on-year, slowing from a 17.6 percent drop in the previous month.

Exports, in terms of volume, gained 5.4 percent on-year last month, quickening from a 3.2 percent gain in August, the ministry said.

Such a drop in prices largely stems from an equally or more severe cut in global prices of raw materials.

The average price of Dubai crude, which accounts for some 80 percent of South Korea's overall oil imports, has more than halved from $96.60 per barrel in September 2014 to $45.80 per barrel last month, according to the ministry.

Consequently, the average price of South Korean petroleum and petrochemical products, which together account for about one-fourth of total exports, plunged 46.1 percent and 26.7 percent on-year, respectively.

Outbound shipments of petroleum and petrochemical products, in terms of value, dropped 35.3 percent and 25 percent, respectively, in September.

Apparently less affected by the change in oil prices and helped by growing overseas demand, exports of mobile communication devices, including smartphones, spiked 40.9 percent on-year while shipments of automobile parts gained 5 percent.

By country, exports to China, the world's single-largest market for South Korean products, slipped 5 percent on-year to $12.1 billion with shipments to the United States sliding 3.7 percent to $5.46 billion.

Shipments to European Union countries jumped 19.7 percent on-year to $4.45 billion, partly helped by a recovery in consumption there, the ministry said.

Exports to Japan and the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, key markets for South Korean goods, plunged 24.3 percent and 11.6 percent on-year, respectively.

The dip in the country's imports was again attributed to the large cut in global energy prices.

In September, the country's imports of raw materials tumbled 37.9 percent on-year while imports of consumer and capital goods gained 5.8 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

The ministry forecast the country's exports to continue expanding, at least in terms of volume, in upcoming months.

"However, shipments in terms of value are expected to post another drop in October due to the low global oil prices and a base effect stemming from the record amount of exports ($51.6 billion) posted in October last year," it said. (Yonhap)