Korea's ICT trade surplus highest among OECD members

South Korea's trade surplus in the ICT segment outpaced those of members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the first half, data showed Wednesday, posting robust performances despite the global economic slump.

According to the data compiled by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion, South Korea posted a whopping trade surplus of $40.9 billion in the January-June period in the sector, beating Germany, which came in second with a profit of $6.4 billion.

The Netherlands and Japan posted a trade surplus of $3.5 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively, while the United States posted a deficit of $101.1 billion, the data also showed.

South Korea's exports in the ICT segment inched up 0.5 percent on-year in the first half, while the OECD members' average plunged 5.9 percent.

The U.S., Japan and Germany saw their ICT-related exports drop 1.1 percent, 6.7 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively.

South Korea's outbound shipments of ICT products hit $16.04 billion in October, down 1.6 percent from $16.29 billion tallied the year before, according to separate data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It said while exports fell compared with the previous year, the total actually represents a monthly high for 2015. The previous record was $15.9 billion reached in September. (Yonhap)