Korea's trade balance also recorded a deficit in July, showing that the deficit continued for the fourth month in a row.
The trade deficit for four consecutive months is the first in 14 years since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Exports increased, but imports increased even more due to high energy prices, and the deficit continued in July.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced today (1st) July import and export statistics with the same content.
Last month, exports increased 9.4% year-on-year to USD 60.7 billion, and imports increased 21.8% to USD 65.37 billion.
As a result, the trade balance showed a deficit of 4.67 billion dollars (about 6.9 trillion won), recording a deficit for four consecutive months since last April.
It is the first time in 14 years since June-September 2008, during the global financial crisis, that the trade balance recorded a deficit for four consecutive months.
Exports were $5.2 billion more than the previous record of $5.5 billion in July last year.
As a result, the increase continued for the 21st consecutive month despite austerity policies in major countries due to global inflation (inflation) and a decrease in the number of working days (-1.0 days).
By item, seven major items such as semiconductors and petroleum products increased.
In particular, petroleum products and automobiles ranked first in history, and semiconductors ranked first in July.
By region, China, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Latin America decreased, while the United States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the European Union (EU) increased.
The U.S. and India ranked first on a monthly basis, while ASEAN and the EU ranked first in July.
As energy prices continue to remain high, recent imports have exceeded $60 billion for the fifth straight month.
In particular, imports of energy, such as oil and gas, recorded $18.5 billion, an increase of $8.7 billion from the same month of last year ($9.7 billion), leading the increase in imports.