South Korea's information and communications technology (ICT) exports more than doubled from a year earlier in May, setting a record high on a monthly basis.
ICT exports totaled $47.79 billion in May, up 128.9% from $20.88 billion a year earlier, according to the "May 2026 ICT Trade Trends" report released Monday by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Both the export value and the growth rate ranked first on record. Exports also exceeded $40 billion for the third consecutive month.
All major items, including semiconductors and computers and peripherals, posted gains. Semiconductors recorded $37.16 billion, driven by rising fixed transaction prices for memory amid expanding investment in artificial intelligence (AI) servers. The growth rate reached 169.2%.
Computers and peripherals recorded $4.33 billion on strong exports of solid-state drives (SSDs), which are semiconductor-based storage devices for AI servers. Of this, SSD exports accounted for $3.97 billion.
ICT imports in May stood at $15.7 billion, up 36.0% from $11.54 billion a year earlier.
