A Reuters poll of nine economists puts South Korea’s October export growth at 93.2%, a pace that would be the highest since January 1974 if realized, as a larger workday count clouds the year-over-year comparison.
If reached, the increase would top September’s final 83.7% gain and make October the 17th straight month of export growth. The full-month October result has not yet been released.
Provisional data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS) showed exports totaled $61.612 billion from Oct. 1-20, up 105.4% from a year earlier. The 13 working days in that period compared with 10.5 in the same period of 2025. Average daily exports reached $4.74 billion, a 65.9% annual increase.
Semiconductor exports came to $27.5 billion in the first 20 days, a record for Oct. 1-20 in KCS records.
Reuters linked the export outlook to artificial-intelligence investment demand and higher memory-chip prices. The outlet also cited an analyst who said growth was extending to cars and wireless communication devices.
Park Chong-hoon, an economist at Standard Chartered, told Reuters that calendar effects and favorable base comparisons accounted for much of the expected rise in exports and imports.
The poll’s median forecast put October import growth at 39.9%, compared with 26.0% in September, and the trade surplus at $37.24 billion. September’s final surplus was $49.972 billion. KCS’s final figures put September exports at $121.050 billion, up 83.7% year over year, and January-September exports at $814.724 billion, an increase of 56.8%.
Reuters said the full October trade figures were scheduled for release Sunday, Nov. 1, at 9 a.m. Korea Standard Time (00:00 UTC).
