Korea posts 5th-largest current account surplus in January: BOK

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Published: 06 Mar. 2026, 10:09

Trade containers are stored in a cargo terminal at Pyeongtaek port in Gyeonggi on March 1. [YONHAP]

Korea recorded its fifth-largest monthly current account surplus in January, driven by a semiconductor upcycle and strong exports, central bank data showed Friday.

The current account surplus totaled $13.26 billion in January, down from $18.7 billion in December, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Compared with the same month a year earlier, however, the figure surged 397.4 percent, marking the fifth-largest monthly surplus on record.

Korea has recorded a current account surplus every month since May 2023, the second-longest streak in the country's history.

In 2025, the nation logged the largest yearly surplus on record, at $123.05 billion, surpassing the previous high of $105.1 billion set in 2015.

Yonhap