SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted a current account surplus for 81 months through November last year despite a slower growth in export, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Current account surplus, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, reached 5.06 billion U.S. dollars in November, staying in the black since March 2012, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the lowest in seven months since April when the current account surplus reached 1.77 billion U.S. dollars.
Export, which accounts for about half of the economy, managed to grow in the month, but the growth slowed on the contracted global trade, caused by trade conflict among major economies.
Export rose 0.5 percent in November from a year earlier, while import advanced 9.3 percent on higher global crude oil price.
Trade surplus for goods amounted to 7.97 billion U.S. dollars in November, the lowest since February last year.
Services account balance, which measures the flow of travel, transport costs and royalties, posted a deficit of 2.29 billion U.S. dollars in November, down from a deficit of 3.27 billion U.S. dollars a year earlier.
Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, was a surplus of 30 million U.S. dollars.
Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, recorded an outflow of 4.26 billion U.S. dollars in November.
Overseas direct investment by residents increased 2.01 billion U.S. dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea grew 1.79 billion U.S. dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond transactions, overseas investment by residents climbed 4.84 billion U.S. dollars. Foreign investment in local stocks and bonds reduced 190 million U.S. dollars.
