Overseas shipments contributed 0.6 percentage point to the country's economic growth last year, according to the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

The contribution rate of exports was higher than 0.5 percentage point in 2019 and 0.1 percentage point in 2018.

Last year, South Korea's nominal exports fell 5.5 percent from a year earlier, but its inflation-adjusted overseas shipments grew 2.3 percent.

Stung by the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia's fourth-largest economy shrank 0.9 percent in 2020 from the previous year.

The report further showed that added value created by exports accounted for 23.1 percent of the country's gross domestic product last year, up 0.8 percentage point from a year earlier.

Overseas shipments induced the creation of 3.44 million jobs in 2020, or 12.8 percent of South Korea's total employed people, according to the report. (Yonhap)