SEOUL — South Korea’s export momentum remained robust in October, surpassing the $110 billion mark for the second consecutive month, driven overwhelmingly by a stellar performance in the semiconductor sector.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) on November 1, October exports surged 93.7% year-on-year to reach $115.3 billion.

Leading the charge was the semiconductor industry. Chip exports skyrocketed by 259%, while non-semiconductor exports grew by a solid 34%. Benefiting from aggressive capital expenditures by global Big Tech companies aiming to secure market dominance, monthly semiconductor exports exceeded $50 billion for the second straight month. The Ministry attributed this boom to persistent excess demand primarily centered on DRAM, alongside sustained upward trends in fixed prices for both DRAM and NAND flash memory. Driven by this rally, the proportion of semiconductors in total exports reached 48.9%, marking an all-time record high for the month of October.

Meanwhile, computer exports logged triple-digit growth for the ninth consecutive month, fueled by the expansion of Agentic AI and soaring global AI infrastructure investments, which drove up enterprise SSD demand for AI servers. Notably, semiconductor exports to the United States spiked by 497%, continuing a 10-month streak of triple-digit growth. The vast majority of major export categories also maintained an upward trajectory with double-digit to triple-digit increases.

On the import side, October imports rose 36.0% to $72.78 billion. Energy imports increased 63.1% to $16.94 billion, while non-energy imports grew 29.7% to $56.29 billion. Crude oil imports saw a slight drop in volume (-6.3%), but soaring unit prices (+62.0%) pushed crude oil import values up by 51.9% to $10.7 billion. Key non-energy imports included semiconductor equipment ($2.52 billion, up 49.2%) and automobiles ($1.46 billion, up 38.5%).

South Korea posted a trade surplus of $42.5 billion in October—an increase of $36.5 billion compared to the same period last year—marking the second consecutive month the surplus has crossed the $40 billion threshold. The cumulative trade surplus for the January–October period reached $294.9 billion, a massive surge of $239.1 billion from a year earlier.

The government expects South Korea's cumulative annual exports to surpass the historic $1 trillion milestone sometime in November. Cumulative exports for the first ten months (January–October) stood at $930 billion, crossing the $900 billion threshold for the first time in history.

"In October, our exports maintained a robust growth trend of over $110 billion, making the achievement of $1 trillion in annual exports this November all but certain," said Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Kim Jung-gwan. "This is the result of surging demand for advanced industries like semiconductors driven by AI growth, combined with the tireless efforts of our corporations maintaining strong global competitiveness amidst challenging external conditions."

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