Korea July Exports Reach 98.89 Billion Dollars as Chip Sales Surge 178.8 Percent
South Korea’s exports reached 98.89 billion dollars in July, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, with semiconductor shipments of 41.01 billion dollars, up 178.8 percent on the same month a year earlier.
Imports were 68.56 billion dollars and the trade surplus was 30.32 billion dollars. June exports were 102.25 billion dollars, an increase of 70.9 percent on the year.
The monthly total was lower than June’s while the year-on-year rate remained extraordinary, and the reason is in the calendar rather than in demand. The ministry publishes both a total and a daily average, and the two can be used to recover the working-day count, which is not published. On our calculation, 98.89 billion dollars divided by a daily average of 4.12 billion gives exactly 24.00 working days in July 2026. Applying the same method to the year-earlier month, total exports of 60.74 billion dollars divided by a daily average of 2.4292 billion gives exactly 25.00 days. Both divisions land on whole numbers to two decimal places, which is the check that the method is sound. July 2026 had one fewer working day, 4.0 percent fewer, than July 2025.
That is why the daily average grew faster than the total: 69.6 percent against 62.8 percent, on our calculation from the same figures.
The concentration is the more important number. Total exports rose 38.15 billion dollars on the year. On our calculation, semiconductors accounted for 26.30 billion of that, or 68.9 percent, and computers for a further 3.84 billion, or 10.1 percent. Two product lines therefore delivered 79 percent of the entire increase in Korean exports.
Korean July exports, year-on-year contribution. Prior-year levels and contribution shares are our calculation, derived from the published levels and growth rates. Figures in billions of dollars.
| Line | July 2026 | July 2025, derived | Increase | Share of total increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semiconductors | 41.01 | 14.71 | +26.30 | 68.9 percent |
| Computers | 4.79 | 0.95 | +3.84 | 10.1 percent |
| All other lines | 53.09 | 45.08 | +8.01 | 21.0 percent |
| Total exports | 98.89 | 60.74 | +38.15 | 100 percent |
Stripping semiconductors out entirely, the rest of the export book still grew, from 46.03 billion dollars to 57.88 billion, or 25.7 percent on our calculation. That is a strong number by any ordinary standard. It is also less than a sixth of the headline rate, which is the point: the headline is a semiconductor price and volume story wearing a national label.
On the import side, energy is doing a third of the work. Energy imports were 14.48 billion dollars, which on our calculation is 21.1 percent of the total import bill. The year-earlier figure derives to 9.65 billion, so energy contributed an increase of 4.83 billion against a total import increase of 14.36 billion, or 33.7 percent of it.
One arithmetic note for readers who check. Published exports less published imports is 30.33 billion dollars, while the published surplus is 30.32 billion. The difference is rounding in the underlying unrounded values, not an error in either figure.
Domestic prices moved in the helpful direction in the same month. Consumer prices rose 2.8 percent on the year in July, published on 4 August by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, down from 3.2 percent in June. Core inflation excluding volatile agricultural and oil products was 2.5 percent, and 2.6 percent on the basis used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The survey evidence is one month behind. The S&P Global South Korea Manufacturing PMI was 52.1 in June, a three-month low; the July reading is not yet published at a source this publication cites.
Why it matters: Korea’s trade data is read across Asia as the earliest monthly reading on global electronics demand, and a 178.8 percent increase in semiconductor exports will be read as a broad recovery in world trade. On our reading it is narrower than that. Two product lines delivered 79 percent of the growth, and the rest of the export book grew at a rate that is respectable rather than exceptional. A concentration of that degree cuts both ways: it has driven the surplus to 30.32 billion dollars, and it means a single-product price cycle now determines the trade balance of a major economy.
Looking ahead: The first twenty days of August, published mid-month, are the earliest test of whether the semiconductor rate is decelerating. The July manufacturing PMI is the nearer release.
Sources: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, Republic of Korea; Ministry of Data and Statistics, Republic of Korea; S&P Global.
