A sharp drop in imports caused by the worldwide economic slump drove South Korea's trade surplus last year to reach a record $41 billion, according to a preliminary government tally Friday.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the annual findings showed exports falling 13.8 percent on-year to $363.8 billion, with imports plunging 25.8 percent to $322.8 billion.
The favorable trade balance for 2009 surpasses the previous record of $39 billion in 1998 as the country tried to recover from the Asian financial crisis by cutting back on imports, it said.
Last year's tally marked a turnaround from the $13.2 billion trade deficit in 2008.
The ministry also said in its tentative report that the country's global export ranking rose to ninth place last year from 12th in 2008 as its outbound shipments were hurt less than those of other leading trading nations. China, Germany, and the United States were the three largest exporters followed by Japan, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.
Kang Myung-soo, head of the ministry's export import division, said: “South Korea's surplus with China shot up 163 percent from the year before to $30.8 billion, while the chronic deficit with Japan fell to $26.4 billion from $32.7 billion in 2008,” which are two of South Korea’s major economies.
Meanwhile, sales to the United States and the European Union fell 18.9 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively, with volume to Japan dropping 23.7 percent, it said.
