SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s exports rose at their fastest pace in 14 months in September, blowing past market expectations, as a global AI boom drove strong demand for chips, trade data showed on Wednesday.

Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, an early bellwether for global trade, stood at $65.95 billion in September, up 12.7% from a year earlier, compared with a 7.2% increase forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

The surge in shipments topped the 1.2% rise in August and marked the biggest percentage gain since July 2024, also boosted by favourable calendar effects from the timing difference in the Chuseok thanksgiving holidays.

Exports of semiconductors rose 22% to a record monthly value of $16.61 billion amid increasing demand from a global artificial intelligence boom.

See Full Page