Korea’s exports jump 50.4% in first 20 days of March

SEOUL, 23rd March, 2026 (WAM) — Exports from the Republic of Korea surged by 50.4 percent year-on-year in the first 20 days of March, driven by strong global demand for semiconductors, data showed Monday.

Outbound shipments reached US$53.3 billion in the March 1-20 period, compared with $35.4 billion tallied over the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

This marked the country’s largest exports recorded for the cited period, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Imports increased 19.7 percent on-year to $41.2 billion during the period, resulting in a trade surplus of $12.1 billion, the data showed.

Per-day exports surged 40.4 percent on-year to $3.55 billion, the data showed.

By item, exports of semiconductors surged 163.9 percent on-year to a record high of $18.7 billion on a continued increase in memory chip prices fueled by high demand for artificial intelligence servers. The figure marked the highest amount ever recorded for the first 20 days of any given month.