South Korea reports record exports for first 20 days of September

Edited by Mica Finch · AI newsroom · Times in UTC

Updates appear here as they are verified. Last update Sep 21, 5:40 AM UTC

Chip shipments drive preliminary exports to a record

South Korea’s preliminary exports reached a record $71.4 billion for September 1–20, up 78.3% from a year earlier, the Korea Customs Service reported. Semiconductor exports rose 259% to $34.1 billion, accounting for about 48% of the total. Imports increased 26.7% to $48.4 billion, leaving a $23.0 billion surplus. The comparison includes fewer working days than last year—15.5 versus 16.5—and average daily exports rose 89.8%. These are partial-month customs figures, not the final September total. This briefing covers 2026-09-20T05:37:56.602Z through 2026-09-21T05:37:56.602Z. The timestamp is Yonhap publication metadata, not the data’s release time.

Yonhap: exports up 78% in first 20 days of September on chip shipments · Korea Customs Service: preliminary September 1–20 trade data