Daily Times

South Korea logged current account deficit in November last year owing to export reduction, central bank data showed Tuesday.

Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, recorded a deficit of 620 million U.S. dollars in November, after posting a surplus of 1.58 billion dollars in September and 880 million dollars in October, according to the Bank of Korea.

The November deficit turned red sharply from a surplus of 6.82 billion dollars in November 2021.

For the first 11 months of last year, the current account surplus came in at 24.37 billion dollars, less than a third of 82.24 billion dollars of surplus in the same period of 2021.

Trade balance for goods registered a deficit of 1.57 billion dollars in November, remaining in the red for the second consecutive month.

Export retreated 12.3 percent from a year earlier to 52.32 billion dollars in November, marking the fastest fall in two and a half years amid rising worries about the global economic downturn.

Import added 0.6 percent to 53.88 billion dollars due to the still high energy costs.

Services account balance registered a deficit of 340 million dollars in November compared to a deficit of 270 million dollars a year earlier.

Surplus for primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, increased to 1.43 billion dollars in November from 1.17 billion dollars a year earlier due to lower dividend payment to foreign investors.

Financial account, which measures cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, recorded a net outflow of 1.85 billion dollars in November.

Overseas direct investment by domestic residents rose by 3.24 billion dollars, and foreign direct investment in South Korea gained by 550 million dollars.

For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents climbed by 4.08 billion dollars, while foreign investment in domestic stocks and bonds grew by 1.49 billion dollars.