The country's outbound shipments last year rose 8.2% to a record-high USD 683.8 billion. Shown are containers on Aug. 1 packed at the Sinseondae wharf of the Port of Busan. (Yonhap News)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

The nation's exports last year set a record high of USD 683.8 billion.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Jan. 1 said the figure was 8.2% higher than the previous mark of USD 683.6 billion in 2022.

Such growth was led by semiconductors, the country's key export item. Overseas shipments of chips jumped 43.9% to a record-high USD 141.9 billion.

Despite the martial law incident, exports last month rose set a December mark of USD 61.3 billion, up 6.6% from the same month in 2023. This was also the 15th straight month of export increase since October 2023.

The global ranking of the nation's outbound shipments from January to September last year also jumped from eighth in 2023 to sixth last year. Korea's export growth of 9.6% year on year was the highest among the top 10 exporting countries per data of the World Trade Organization.

aisylu@korea.kr