South Korea’s goods exports rose 83.5% from a year earlier to $120.94 billion in September 2026. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) said in a release posted on October 1 that monthly exports had crossed $120 billion for the first time and the trade surplus had also reached a record $49.85 billion. Imports increased 26.0% to $71.09 billion. These totals describe the monetary value of goods trade. They do not, by themselves, show an equivalent increase in the physical quantity shipped, because prices and product mix can change the value recorded in dollars.

Exports for January through September totalled $814.5 billion, according to the ministry, exceeding the $709.3 billion record for the whole of 2025 within the first nine months of the new year. That comparison places a nine-month cumulative figure beside a full-year figure; it is not a result for all of 2026 and does not establish how the year will end. The September increase was concentrated in several product groups. Semiconductor exports jumped 262.8% to $60.30 billion and computer exports rose 435.3% to $7.00 billion. MOTIR said exports grew in 11 of its 20 key export-item categories, indicating that the monthly gain was broad in some respects but not universal.

Semiconductors represented about half of September’s export value. MOTIR attributed their performance to continued memory demand, expanding export volumes and rising contract prices. It linked computer exports to demand for artificial-intelligence infrastructure and wider adoption of agentic AI. Wireless communication device exports increased 23.4% to $2.14 billion. Automotive exports moved in the opposite direction, falling 5.5% to $6.05 billion. The ministry cited a calendar comparison: Chuseok fell in October in 2025 but September in 2026, affecting the year-on-year comparison, and used-car exports were weaker. Average daily automobile exports nevertheless rose 5.5%, a different measure that adjusts for the number of working days.

Energy-related trade illustrates why value and volume should be kept distinct. Petroleum-product exports increased 72.0% to $7.22 billion and petrochemical exports rose 5.1% to $3.95 billion. MOTIR pointed to sharply higher international oil prices amid fewer vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz and heightened shipping risks in the Red Sea. Yet export volumes declined 6.9% for petroleum products and 19.1% for petrochemicals. Crude-oil imports by value rose 38.4% to $8.00 billion; the ministry reported a 2.0% increase in import volume and a 35.7% rise in prices. Nominal dollar totals can therefore rise substantially even where physical quantities are flat or falling.

Exports to China climbed 122.7% to $26.01 billion, shipments to the United States rose 137.0% to $24.33 billion, and exports to ASEAN advanced 92.6% to $21.29 billion. Sales to the European Union increased 20.9% to $8.65 billion, while exports to the Middle East fell 14.1% to $1.60 billion. Energy imports increased 38.0% to $12.96 billion. The ministry relayed a ministerial expectation that annual exports could reach $1 trillion, while also identifying protectionism and Middle East tensions as risks; this is an official outlook, not an achieved total or independently established forecast. One exceptional month, concentrated product growth and reported market movements do not alone determine the subsequent trade path.