South Korea’s ICT Exports Surge, Driven by Semiconductor Sales

Seoul: South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products continued their upward trajectory for the 11th consecutive month in September, primarily fueled by unprecedented sales in the semiconductor sector. According to Emirates News Agency, the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT highlighted that outbound shipments of ICT products reached $22.4 billion last month, marking a 24 percent increase from $18.04 billion recorded a year earlier. This surge in exports represents the second highest monthly figure since March 2022, underscoring a robust growth trend in the country's tech sector. The report further detailed that imports of ICT products also saw a significant rise, increasing by 15.9 percent year-over-year to $12.5 billion. This resulted in a substantial trade surplus of $9.88 billion in the ICT sector for September. Semiconductors, particularly, stood out as the star performers, with exports soaring 36.3 percent on-year to reach an all-time high of $13.6 billion. Th is increase is part of a continuous trend, with semiconductor exports having registered double-digit growth for 11 months in a row, driven by heightened global demand for chips used in artificial intelligence servers. Memory chips, a critical component of the semiconductor industry, experienced a particularly sharp increase in demand. Exports of these chips skyrocketed by 60.7 percent on-year to $8.7 billion, boosted by growing needs for high-value products such as high-bandwidth memory chips.