South Korea's exports declined in March for the sixth month in a row, but the drop was not as significant as expected. The country's fourth-largest economy exported goods worth $55.12 billion in March, down by 13.6% from the same period last year.
The latest figures released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday showed that imports also fell in March by 6.4% to $59.75 billion compared to a 3.5% rise in February, marking the fastest decline since August last year.
Despite this contraction, South Korea still registered a trade deficit of $4.62 billion due to low export numbers - marking its thirteenth consecutive month of deficits.
According to analysts, these numbers suggest that while there is an improvement from previous months when exports contracted more than 20%, it is too early to conclude that this marks a turnaround for South Korea's export-dependent economy.
"The slowdown of China’s domestic demand will continue hurting Korean exporters," said Kim Minkyu at Yuanta Securities Co., adding "Korean exports won’t likely recover until China’s consumption improves."
South Korea has been grappling with declining exports due to weakening global demand and trade disputes between major economies such as US-China tensions and Japan-Korea trade friction.
The government has launched several stimulus packages aimed at boosting economic growth and supporting small businesses affected by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions but experts predict that it may take some time before any meaningful impact can be seen on the country's export figures.