AI boost drives South Korea’s ICT exports to $20.8 billion in October

In October, South Korea’s information and communication technology (ICT) exports saw a significant increase of 22% compared to the same period last year, driven by the expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) market and the resulting demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other semiconductors. According to the “October ICT Export and Import Trends” report released by the Ministry of Science and ICT on Nov. 14, last month’s ICT exports amounted to $20.8 billion, while imports were $13.33 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $7.47 billion.

Notably, ICT exports surpassed $20 billion for three consecutive months, bolstered by strong performance across major categories such as semiconductors, mobile phones, computers, and peripherals. Semiconductor exports reached $12.55 billion, a 39.9% increase from the same month last year, marking the highest October export figure ever. This represents a double-digit increase for 12 consecutive months. Memory semiconductor exports surged by 63.9% to $7.39 billion year-on-year, driven by increased demand for high-value items like HBM due to AI server investments, thereby expanding the overall growth in semiconductor exports.

Mobile phone exports, including finished products ($380 million, 47.2%↑) and parts ($1.44 billion, 15.9%↑), also saw simultaneous growth, maintaining a year-on-year growth trend since March. Exports of parts to major mobile phone manufacturing regions such as China and Vietnam showed strong performance, maintaining double-digit growth rates for four consecutive months year-on-year.

Exports of computers and peripherals also increased significantly by 48.4% year-on-year to $1.12 billion, driven by increased demand for SSDs for data center servers ($710 million, 67.9%). This marked a ten-month consecutive upward trend. However, exports of communication equipment decreased by 8.4% to $180 million. Despite the overall decline in communication equipment exports, exports to China (including Hong Kong, $20 million, 18.0%↑) recovered, reducing the overall decline.

Display exports decreased by 21.5% to $1.8 billion. Although the demand for consumer electronics such as televisions and personal computers weakened, the export level remained in the high $1 billion range.

By region, exports to China increased by 9.9% to $8.29 billion. Exports to Vietnam ($3.42 billion, 6.4%), the United States ($2.36 billion, 35.6%), and the European Union ($960 million, 13.4%) also increased. Japan, where mobile phone exports decreased by $10 million (-19.6%), recorded $320 million, a year-on-year decrease of 7.3%. Business Korea