As exports of semiconductors and other items plummeted, the current account balance returned to the red in November last year for the first time in three months.
According to provisional balance of payments statistics released by the Bank of Korea, the current account balance in November of last year recorded a deficit of 620 million dollars, a decrease of 7.44 billion dollars compared to a year ago.
As a result, the cumulative current account surplus from January to November of last year also decreased to $24.37 billion, less than a third of the same period the year before last.
Among the detailed items, the goods balance recorded a deficit of 1.57 billion dollars, and exports in particular decreased by 12.3% from November last year, recording the largest decrease in two and a half years.
Due to the global economic slowdown, exports were sluggish, especially semiconductors -28.6%, chemical industrial products -16%, and steel products -11.3%. By region, exports to China, Southeast Asia, and Japan shrank.
On the other hand, imports increased by 0.6% from a year ago due to the increase in raw material imports.