South Korea recorded a current account surplus of over $46.1 billion in August, driven by strong semiconductor exports. This marks the second largest surplus on record, following June's figures. Exports of semiconductors surged more than 200% compared to the same month last year, while total goods exports surpassed $100 billion for the third consecutive month.
According to the Bank of Korea's preliminary statistics on the international balance of payments for August 2026, the current account surplus was recorded at $46.11 billion. This continues a streak of 40 consecutive months of surpluses since May 2023.
On a monthly basis, the surplus is the second highest ever, following June's $49.73 billion. It exceeded July's $42.08 billion by $4.03 billion, setting a new record for the second highest surplus just a month later. The current account surplus has now surpassed $40 billion for three consecutive months.
From January to August this year, the cumulative current account surplus reached $279.2 billion, nearly four times the $69.67 billion recorded during the same period last year. The Bank of Korea previously revised its annual current account surplus forecast from $250 billion to $450 billion.
In August, the goods balance recorded a surplus of $46.81 billion, the second highest ever. This figure follows June's $47.89 billion and represents an increase of $6.38 billion from the previous month’s $40.43 billion.
Exports totaled $104.8 billion, an 82.1% increase from a year earlier, driven by growth in both information technology (IT) and non-IT sectors. Goods exports have exceeded $100 billion for three consecutive months, following June's $112.37 billion and July's $100.45 billion.
By category, exports of computer peripherals such as SSDs increased by 366.8%, semiconductors by 206.1%, petroleum products by 64.9%, chemical products by 14.1%, and steel products by 13.4%. However, exports of passenger cars and ships decreased by 30.1% and 45.2%, respectively.
Notably, semiconductor exports reached $46.83 billion, a 206.1% increase compared to the same month last year. Overall IT exports rose by 162.6%, while non-IT exports increased by 8.1%.
Regionally, exports increased to China (119.4%), Southeast Asia (91.7%), the United States (89.2%), Latin America (24.8%), and the European Union (14.6%). However, exports to the Middle East fell by 14.9%.
Imports totaled $57.99 billion, a 23.8% increase from a year earlier, but lower than the previous month’s $60.02 billion.
On a customs basis, imports of capital goods surged by 42.9%, driven by semiconductor manufacturing equipment (96.5%), semiconductors (70.6%), and information and communication devices (42.6%). Raw material imports also increased by 13.1%, led by coal (42.7%), chemical products (22.8%), and crude oil (21.1%).
Consumer goods imports reversed from a 3.1% decrease in the previous month to a 4.3% increase in August, influenced by rises in durable goods (7.1%) and non-durable goods (5.9%).
The services balance recorded a deficit of $1.68 billion, a reduction from the previous month’s deficit of $1.97 billion and lower than the $2.24 billion deficit from the same month last year.
Within the services balance, the travel balance showed a deficit of $770 million, widening from the previous month’s deficit of $340 million due to increased travel expenditures during the peak travel season.
The number of outbound travelers in August was 2.432 million, up from 2.419 million in July. Meanwhile, the number of inbound travelers rose from 2.093 million to 2.245 million during the same period.
Conversely, the transportation balance improved significantly from a $60 million surplus in the previous month to a $520 million surplus, aided by rising export shipping rates. The intellectual property rights balance also saw a reduction in its deficit from $540 million to $390 million, as income from industrial property rights increased more than payments.
The primary income balance recorded a surplus of $1.92 billion, down from $4.35 billion in the previous month. This decline was influenced by seasonal effects related to dividend payments from securities investments, which fell from $3.83 billion to $1.18 billion.
The net financial account (assets minus liabilities) increased by $40.23 billion, remaining similar to the previous month’s $40.32 billion.
Direct investment saw domestic investors increase overseas investments by $6.22 billion, while foreign investments in South Korea decreased by $1.61 billion.
In securities investment, domestic investors increased overseas investments by $16.6 billion, marking the second largest increase on record. This included $10.15 billion in overseas stock investments and $6.44 billion in overseas debt securities.
Notably, domestic investments in overseas debt securities reached the largest increase ever, driven by heightened attractiveness of overseas bond investments. The previous record was $6.31 billion in May of last year.
In contrast, foreign investments in domestic securities decreased by $4.85 billion, reversing from an increase of $8.17 billion in the previous month.
Foreign investments in domestic stocks fell by $470 million, influenced by the fading temporary effects of SK Hynix's American Depositary Receipt (ADR) issuance in July.
Foreign investments in domestic debt securities also decreased by $4.38 billion, as arbitrage incentives weakened, reversing from an increase of $2.19 billion in the previous month.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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