South Korea's current account surplus dropped significantly from a month earlier in April as its surplus in the goods account narrowed, while the deficit in the service sector widened, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The country's current account surplus came to $3.37 billion in April, plunging from a $10.09 billion surplus in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.


April marked the 50th consecutive month of surplus.

However, the April tally marked the lowest level since January 2014.

Such a large drop was partly attributed to a cut in exports.

"The goods account surplus narrowed to $9.56 billion, compared to $12.45 billion in March," the BOK said in a press release.

South Korea's exports have fallen every single month since the start of last year.

In April, exports dropped 9.5 percent from a month earlier, while imports only slipped 4.5 percent over the cited period, according to the BOK data.

The deficit in the service account widened $1.62 billion in April, compared with a $1 billion deficit in the previous month, as the surplus in the construction services sector narrowed, while the deficit in other business services grew.

The deficit in the primary income account also widened to $4.07 billion from a $860 million deficit in March, due to a large cut in investment income.

The deficit in the investment income came to $4.01 billion in April, jumping more than threefold from an $800 million deficit in the previous month. (Yonhap)