SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's current account surplus hit a record monthly high in December 2025 thanks to strong demand for locally-made semiconductors, central bank data showed Friday.
The country's current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, posted 18.7 billion U.S. dollars in December last year, staying in black for the 32nd straight month since May 2023, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was higher than a surplus of 12.9 billion dollars in the previous month, logging the biggest in the Asian country's modern history.
For the whole year of 2025, the current account surplus set an all-time yearly high of 123.05 billion dollars.
Trade surplus for goods came to 18.85 billion dollars in December, higher than 14.7 billion dollars in November.
Exports soared 13.1 percent from a year earlier to 71.65 billion dollars in December, while imports climbed 1.7 percent to 52.8 billion dollars.
Service account deficit hit 3.69 billion dollars in December, higher than a deficit of 2.85 billion dollars in the previous month.
Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, registered a surplus of 4.73 billion dollars on solid dividend income from foreign stock investment.
Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, achieved a net outflow of 23.77 billion dollars in the cited month.
Overseas direct investment by domestic residents swelled by 6.49 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea expanded by 5.17 billion dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents jumped by 14.37 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds mounted by 5.68 billion dollars. ■