SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export posted a double-digit growth in the October 1-20 period compared with the same period of last year due mainly to more business days, customs office data showed Monday.
Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, reached 33.39 billion U.S. dollars for the first 20 days of October, up 26.0 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service.
The double-digit expansion was attributed mainly to a rise in the number of working days. As the Chuseok holiday, the South Korean version of Thanksgiving Day, moved to September this year from October last year, the number of business days increased by 4.5 days this month.
The daily export, which excludes the working-day effect, averaged 2.3 billion dollars in the cited period, down 13.1 percent from a year earlier.
Import advanced 31.4 percent over the year to 31.75 billion dollars for the first 20 days of this month, sending the trade surplus to 1.64 billion dollars.
