SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s exports rose in July at the fastest pace in six months but missed market expectations, trade data showed on Thursday.
Overseas sales by Asia’s fourth-largest economy rose 13.9% year-on-year to $57.49 billion, after a 5.1% rise the previous month and marking the fastest growth since January.
It was, however, weaker than an 18.4% increase tipped in a Reuters survey of economists.
Imports rose 10.5% in July to $53.88 billion, after a 7.5% decline in June. It was the fastest increase since September 2022, but slower than a gain of 13.4% expected by economists.
As a result, the country posted a trade surplus of $3.62 billion in July, narrower than the previous month’s $7.99 billion, which was the biggest since September 2020.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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