SEOUL – South Korea’s exports likely fell in April for a seventh consecutive month and their longest falling streak in more than three years, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday, highlighting frail overseas demand as the world economy slows.
Outbound shipments were expected to have fallen 13.5 percent in April from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 10 economists in the survey, almost unchanged from the 13.6 percent drop in March.
Such a contraction would extend a year-on-year run of losses to a seventh month and mark the longest falling streak since January 2020.
“Exports’ recovery is being delayed due to persistent weakness in China-bound shipments and semiconductor exports,” said economist Park Sang-hyun at HI Investment Securities.
“Although there has not yet been any sign of a rebounding momentum, the recovery is likely to begin modestly near the end of this quarter or from the next quarter.”
In the first 20 days of this month, South Korea exported goods worth 11.0 percent less than a year earlier. Exports to China dropped 26.8 percent and semiconductor shipments tumbled 39.3 percent, each set for an 11th and 10th straight loss.
The country’s imports likely fell 10.6 percent in April year-on-year, according to the survey, accelerating from a 6.4 percent decline in March and suffering their sharpest drop since August 2020.
