The current account surplus in February of USD 7.18 billion marked the 22nd consecutive month of the balance finishing in the black. (Busan Port Authority’s official Facebook account)
By Jeon Misun
The current account balance in February posted a surplus of USD 7.18 billion for the 22nd straight month.
The Bank of Korea said this on April 8 in releasing tentative February data on the economy’s balance of payments.
The figure was USD 4.2 billion higher than January’s USD 2.94 billion and USD 700 million more than from USD 6.44 billion in the same month last year.
Exports rose 3.6% year on year in February to USD 53.7 billion, with growth shown by those of cars (18.8%) and information and communication devices (17.5%). In contrast, overseas shipments of semiconductors declined 2.5% and those of petroleum products fell 12.2%.
By region, exports to Southeast Asia (9.2%) and the U.S. (1%) grew but declined in China (1.4%), Japan (4.8%) and the European Union (8.1%).
Starting in May 2023 with a surplus of USD 2.09 billion, the 22-month streak is Korea’s third longest in the 2000s behind 83 from May 2012 to March 2019 and 27 from May 2020 to August 2022.msjeon22@korea.kr
