(LEAD) Exports rise 22 pct in first 20 days of Jan.
(ATTN: ADDS more details from 3rd para)
SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports grew 22 percent on-year in the first 20 days of January on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Friday.
The country's outbound shipments stood at US$34.4 billion in the Jan. 1-20 period, compared with $28.22 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.
Imports jumped 38.4 percent on-year to $40.1 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $5.63 billion during the cited period, the data showed.

This Jan. 11, 2021, file photo shows stacks of containers at a port in South Korea's southeastern city of Busan. (Yonhap)
By sector, outbound shipments of memory chips, a key export item, rose 29.5 percent on-year.
Semiconductors accounted for about 20 percent of exports by South Korea, home to Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chip maker, and its smaller rival SK hynix Inc.
Exports of petroleum products spiked 84 percent amid high global oil prices, and sales of home appliances in overseas markets more than doubled during the period. Shipments of autos also advanced 22.8 percent, according to the data.
But exports of wireless communication devices dropped 40.4 percent on-year, the data showed.
By country, shipments to China, South Korea's largest trading partner, increased 18.8 percent on-year, and those to the United States climbed 28.0 percent.
Sales in the European Union, Japan and Taiwan also marked double-digit on-year growth.
Exports, which account for half of the local economy, have buttressed the country's economic recovery.
Last year, the country's exports grew 25.8 percent to reach an all-time high on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products amid a global economic recovery.
The Bank of Korea forecast Asia's fourth-largest economy will expand 3 percent this year, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast a 3.3 percent growth.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
BTS' Jimin to pre-release track on his first solo album
-
U.S. B-1B strategic bomber returns to S. Korea as N.K. fires missile
-
(URGENT) N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un calls for completing readiness for nuclear attack against enemies: KCNA
-
Main opposition slams Korea-Japan summit as 'most humiliating' moment in diplomacy
-
BTS member Jimin's single tops iTunes charts in 110 countries
-
Defense ministry sets out to normalize military intelligence-sharing deal with Japan
-
BTS' Jimin to pre-release track on his first solo album
-
Opposition party denounces Yoon-Kishida summit as 'shameful submission to Japan'
-
(LEAD) Political divide intensifies in S. Korea over Yoon-Kishida summit
-
U.S. B-1B strategic bomber returns to S. Korea as N.K. fires missile
-
(LEAD) S. Korea fully restores bilateral military information-sharing pact with Japan
-
Major N. Korean websites offline as of Tuesday morning
-
S. Korea, U.S. set for 'largest-ever' live-fire drills to mark alliance's 70th anniv.
-
(LEAD) LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault meets with department store executives over partnerships
-
Son Heung-min hoping S. Korea will build on positive World Cup momentum