South Korea's Exports Reach Record High Amid Semiconductor Demand

South Korea's exports surged to a monthly record of $120.9 billion in September 2026, marking an 83.5 percent increase year-on-year, driven by high demand for semiconductors. This figure surpasses the previous monthly record of $102.25 billion set in June, according to preliminary customs figures released on October 1, 2026, by the Korea Customs Service. Chip shipments constituted nearly half of the total exports, rising more than 260 percent to $60.3 billion. From January to September, total exports reached $814.5 billion, exceeding the full-year total of $709.7 billion recorded in 2025. South Korea also recorded a trade surplus of $49.85 billion during the first nine months of the year. Kim Jeong-kwan, South Korea’s Minister for Trade and Industry, stated that this achievement reflects the strength of the country's industries and the efforts of entrepreneurs in the global market. He noted that while the country aims to achieve $1 trillion in annual exports, global protectionism and tensions in the Middle East pose challenges. The South Korean economy has experienced significant growth this year, largely due to a global shortage of memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications. The country is home to major semiconductor manufacturers, including SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which together dominate the global market for high-bandwidth and dynamic random-access memory. The nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth reached a five-decade high of 26.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026. The Ministry of Finance and Economy projects real GDP growth of 3 percent in 2026, the strongest since 2017, excluding the years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The AI boom has also positively impacted the stock market, with the benchmark Kospi index rising nearly 60 percent this year.