South Korea's exports rose 21.6 percent on-year in the first 10 days of April on robust global demand for semiconductors, data showed Thursday.

Outbound shipments reached $16.44 billion in the April 1-10 period, compared with $13.52 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

Per-day exports advanced 13.5 percent on-year to $2.19 billion.

Imports grew 5.8 percent on-year to $18.4 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $2 billion.

Exports, a key economic growth engine, have been on a solid recovery track since late last year after a yearlong downturn.

In March, exports advanced 3.1 percent on-year to $52.2 billion, the sixth consecutive monthly gain, on the back of strong demand for semiconductors.

Strong sales of semiconductors led the overall export growth.

Chip exports jumped 45.5 percent to $2.57 billion in the April 1-10 period.

Semiconductor exports accounted for 15.7 percent of the country's total exports during the cited period, up 2.6 percentage points from a year earlier amid an industry cycle upturn.

Auto exports went up 8.6 percent to $1.64 billion, and petroleum products saw exports grow 13.3 percent to $1.35 billion.

Sales of steel products and automotive parts also rose 20.9 percent and 27.2 percent, respectively.

Exports of vessels, however, tumbled 87.1 percent on-year to $82 million.

By nation, shipments to the United States surged 37.4 percent to $3.5 billion, and those to China jumped 20.8 percent to $3.23 billion.

Exports to the European Union climbed 8.6 percent to $1.7 billion, and those to Vietnam soared 46.7 percent to $1.57 billion.

Shipments to Japan spiked 32.3 percent to $858 million, and exports to India increased 24.7 percent to $478 million, the data showed.

The government expected exports to advance 8.5 percent this year to reach a record high of over $700 billion. (Yonhap)