Imports dropped 14.0% from a year earlier to $33.25 billion in July, following a revised 7.7% decline in the prior month.
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Overseas sales of flat panels decreased 19.2 percent on-year last month, with their pace slowing from 25.2 percent in June, marking the smallest on-year decline since December 2015.
The continued surplus came amid falling exports, which account for about half of the export-driven economy, putting an upward pressure on the domestic currency that worsens price competitiveness of local exporters further at a time when global trade weakens.
Shipments of South Korean-made vessels almost halved to $1.99 billion this year from $3.46 billion, dragging down the entire exports tally by 9.2 percentage points in July, it added.
The services account deficit increased to $1.38 billion, from $1.14 billion the month before, owing to deterioration in the travel account. Accordingly, the country’s trade balance in consumer goods marked a surplus of US$11.52 billion (12.86 trillion won) in 1995, but shifted to a deficit of US$21.73 billion (24.25 trillion won) in 2014.
The secondary income account recorded a $0.52 billion deficit.
The primary income account surplus widened from $0.91 billion in May to $1.26 billion, thanks to an increase in the income on equity account.
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The financial account had a $9.60 billion increase in net assets in June and a $46.91 billion increase in net assets for the first half of the year.
