The Bank of Korea announced on July 7 that South Korea recorded a current account surplus of US$3.86 billion in May after a US$80 million deficit in April, its first current account deficit since April 2020. It also said that the May surplus dropped US$6.55 billion from a year ago.

“In May this year, the goods account surplus dropped from US$6.65 billion to US$2.74 billion year on year,” the central bank explained, adding, “This is because imports increased more than exports. Specifically, the latter increased US$10.5 billion to US$61.7 billion while the former increased US$14.41 billion to US$58.96 billion, led by soaring raw material prices.”

The service account deficit was US$20 million, the first deficit since January this year. The primary income account surplus was US$1.45 billion, down US$3.58 billion from a year ago.

The net financial assets increased by US$3.03 billion in May this year. Overseas direct investment increased by US$5.47 billion while foreign direct investment increased by US$1.37 billion. As for securities investment, outbound and inbound were US$7.13 billion and US$2.46 billion, respectively.

Source: BusinessKorea