Exports last month rose 13.8% year on year to give the economy its seventh consecutive month of trade surplus. Seen is Samsung Electronics' mobile pavilion on Feb. 26 at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. (Samsung Electronics)

By Xu Aiying

Exports last month jumped 13.8% to mark the economy's seventh straight month of trade surplus.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on May 1 said export volume reached USD 56.26 billion last month based on its latest trade and export data. April was thus the best month for exports this year with 13 of 15 key items showing strong growth.

The four major information and communications technology products—semiconductors, displays, computers and wireless communication devices—all posted positive growth for the second consecutive month. The top export performer was chips, whose overseas shipments surged 56.1% for their sixth consecutive month of growth.

Displays achieved a yearly export high with USD 1.43 billion. The same was true of exports of computers, which grew for the fourth straight month at 76.2%, and those of wireless communication devices, which rose 11.4% for their second consecutive month of growth.

Car exports set a monthly record with USD 6.79 billion and those of general machinery did the same with USD 4.68 billion. Those of ships grew 5.6% for their ninth consecutive month of growth.

Biohealth exports recorded a double-digit hike for the first time this year with 21.3%. Other sectors that saw notable growth were petroleum products (19%), textiles (1.7%), home appliances (9.4%), automotive parts (2.9%) and petrochemicals (12.3%).

By country, shipments to the nation's top two markets, China and the U.S., expanded.

The American market took in 24.3% more Korean exports than last year with a record USD 11.4 billion. Those to China rose 9.9% to USD 10.5 billion for their second consecutive month above USD 10 billion.

Exports to other regions saw healthy growth like Latin America (38.2%), member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (10.5%), Japan (18.4%) and India (18%).

Imports, meanwhile, rose 5.4% last month year on year to USD 54.73 billion.

xuaiy@korea.kr