S. Korea's current account surplus tops $60b for 1st time on chip boom

South Korea posted an all-time high current account surplus of over $60 billion won in September on strong exports of semiconductors, central bank data showed Thursday.

The current account surplus totaled $61.46 billion in September, up from $46.11 billion the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.

It marked the largest monthly current account surplus ever, renewing the previous record of $49.73 billion set in June.

Compared with the same month a year earlier, the figure surged from $14.22 billion.

For the first nine months of the year, the current account surplus totaled a cumulative $340.66 billion, trebling from $83.89 billion recorded over the same period last year.

South Korea has reported a current account surplus every month since May 2023, making August the 41st consecutive month the balance has remained in the black.

In 2025, the country posted its largest annual surplus on record at $123.05 billion, exceeding the previous high of $105.1 billion set in 2015.

The BOK said the goods account posted a record surplus of $62.75 billion in September, as exports shot up 92.4 percent on-year to $130.72 billion in the month, while imports rose 29.4 percent to $67.97 billion.

The primary income account logged a $2.65 billion surplus following an increase in equity income.

The services account recorded a deficit of $3.35 billion in September, widening the loss from the previous month's $1.68 billion due to the increasing travel deficit and intellectual property-related payments.

The secondary income account recorded a $590 million deficit.