South Korea's terms of trade hit a near nine-year low in November as import costs rose at a much faster pace than export prices, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of overall trade terms -- came to 88.27 last month, down 10.1 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The November tally represented the lowest level since March 2013.

The figure is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. It shows the amount of imports a country can buy for each unit of exports. The base year is 2015, with a benchmark index of 100.

Last month, import prices soared 33.4 percent from a year earlier, while those of exported goods climbed 20 percent.

Meanwhile, the index for the value of imported goods rose to an all-time high of 159.29 in November due to soaring international materials costs, up 42.8 percent from the previous year and marking the 12th consecutive month of on-year increase.

The index for the value of exported goods jumped 27.1 percent on-year to a new high of 140.66 on brisk exports of chips, petrochemicals and other key products, marking the second straight month of on-year gain. (Yonhap)