SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted a trade surplus for 81 straight months through October thanks to strong global demand for locally-made products, customs office data showed Thursday.
Revised figure for trade surplus was 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in October, according to the Korea Customs Service. The country's trade balance stayed in the black for 81 months since February 2012.
Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, gained 22.7 percent from a year earlier to 54.9 billion U.S. dollars in October, while import advanced 28.1 percent to 48.4 billion U.S. dollars.
Among key export items, shipment for semiconductors, oil products and automobiles posted a double-digit growth last month, but export for ship and telecommunications devices, such as smart phone, declined by a double digit.
Export to China and the United States, the country's top two trading partners, soared 17.6 percent and 47.6 percent each, with those to the European Union (EU), Vietnam and Japan all logging a double-digit expansion.
Import of raw materials jumped 38.4 percent amid the higher crude oil price. Those for consumer and capital goods also increased by a double-digit last month. Enditem
