South Korea’s exports more than doubled in the first 10 days of November compared with the same period a year earlier, as a sharp rise in semiconductor shipments helped lift the value of goods sent overseas.
Preliminary customs figures released on 11 November put exports at about $33.5 billion for 1–10 November, an increase of 111.9 per cent on the corresponding days of 2025. Imports rose 45 per cent to roughly $24.7 billion, leaving a goods trade surplus of about $8.8 billion for the period.
The figures cover only the opening ten days of the month. They do not represent November’s final trade balance or establish what the growth rate will be when the rest of the month is included.
Semiconductors account for nearly half of exports
Semiconductor exports reached about $16.6 billion in the period, up 331.2 per cent from a year earlier. They accounted for 49.7 per cent of all exports by value, an increase of 25.3 percentage points in their share compared with the same period of 2025.
That concentration makes the headline result particularly sensitive to the performance of one product group. A higher value of chip exports does not, on its own, show how much of the change came from prices and how much from the number of items shipped.
There were increases in other categories too. The value of computer peripheral exports rose 237.7 per cent year on year, while petroleum product exports increased 100.7 per cent. Passenger car exports moved in the opposite direction, falling 4.3 per cent over the same period.
China, the United States and Vietnam together accounted for 57.3 per cent of exports during the ten days. Shipments to China were valued at approximately $9.2 billion, those to the US at $6.8 billion and those to Vietnam at $3.2 billion. Each market recorded a year-on-year increase.
Working days affect the comparison
Customs officials counted 7.5 working days in this year’s period, compared with seven in the equivalent period last year. That difference matters when comparing the total value recorded over a short stretch of the calendar.
Even after allowing for the different number of working days, average daily exports rose 97.7 per cent to around $4.46 billion. The daily figure therefore also showed a substantial increase, although it remains a measure of export value rather than physical volume.
For comparison, the latest customs table puts exports in the first ten days of November 2025 at about $15.8 billion and imports at about $17.0 billion. That earlier period had a deficit of roughly $1.2 billion, unlike this year’s provisional surplus.
A trade surplus means the recorded value of goods exported exceeded that of goods imported during the specified period. It is not the same as profit for exporters, and the early-month balance should not be treated as a forecast for the month as a whole.
A new snapshot after a strong October
The November release follows a separate set of completed figures for October. The trade ministry reported that exports for that full month were $115.28 billion, up 93.7 per cent from October 2025. Semiconductor exports also rose sharply in that report.
The latest customs data put exports from the start of 2026 through 10 November at approximately $963.7 billion. That is below $1 trillion; the figures do not show that the annual threshold has already been reached.
The early-November numbers offer a fresh view of the start of the month rather than a direct substitute for October’s full-month results. Later shipments and any revisions will determine the final picture, while the short comparison period and different working-day counts remain important when interpreting the exceptional percentage increases.
