[아이뉴스24 김다운 기자]
Amid a recovery in exports of major items such as semiconductors, automobiles, and mobile phones, the current account expanded sharply compared to the previous year in January this year, and the surplus expanded for eight consecutive months.
According to the’International Balance for January 2021 (provisional)’ announced by the Bank of Korea on the 9th, the current account in January recorded a surplus of $7 billion.
In January of last year, although the’Corona 19′ had not yet been affected, sluggish exports such as semiconductors and the effect of the holiday season resulted in a surplus of only 580 million dollars, but this year the surplus expanded by 6.48 billion dollars.
Compared to the same month last year, the surplus has expanded for eight consecutive months.
The product account surplus has increased and the service account deficit has decreased.
The product balance surplus increased by $3.6 billion, from $2.07 billion in the same month of the previous year to $5.73 billion.
Global trade is recovering from the Corona 19 shock.
Customs clearance standards Last January, exports recorded 48.82 billion dollars, an increase of 11.4% from the previous year. Semiconductors increased by 20.6%, passenger cars by 42.6%, and information and communication devices by 22.3%.
Imports based on customs clearance also increased 3.6% year-on-year to $44.5 billion. Imports of capital and consumer goods increased by 29.6% and 7.2%, respectively, while imports of raw materials decreased by 13.1%.
The size of the service balance deficit decreased from $2.99 billion in the same month of the previous year to $610 million due to improvements in transportation and travel balances.
With the increase in sea and air cargo imports, the transportation balance turned to a surplus of 1.30 billion dollars from the previous year. It has been in the black for seven consecutive months since last July ($10 million).
The travel balance decreased by $860 million from the previous year.
In the aftermath of Corona 19, the number of arrivals and departures is still insignificant. In January, the number of inbound and outbound travelers decreased by 96% and 97%, respectively, from the previous year.
The main income balance, which was obtained by subtracting the wages and investment income that foreigners received domestically from the wages and investment income received by Korean citizens abroad, increased from $1.63 billion in the previous year to $2.36 billion as the dividend income increased.
/ Reporter Kim Daun ([email protected])