Korea’s surplus tops Germany and Japan combined

Korea posted the second-largest current account surplus among major economies in the second quarter, surpassing the combined surpluses of Germany and Japan, central bank data showed Sunday.

The country's current account surplus reached $116.63 billion in the April-to-June period, trailing only China's $193.72 billion, according to International Monetary Fund data available on the Bank of Korea's Economic Statistics System.

Germany ranked third with a surplus of $52.28 billion, followed by Japan with $50.62 billion. Their combined surplus of $102.9 billion was $13.73 billion less than Korea's.

It marked the first time Korea's surplus exceeded the combined figures for Germany and Japan since comparable data for all three countries became available in the first quarter of 1996.

Korea's surplus more than quadrupled from $28.39 billion a year earlier, far outpacing increases of 11.9 percent in Germany and 5 percent in Japan.

The sharp increase was largely driven by surging semiconductor exports amid rising chip prices and robust global demand.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, Korea's semiconductor exports soared 181.6 percent on year to $113.89 billion in the second quarter.

Yonhap