March Current Account Surplus Hits All-Time High, Far Surpassing Previous Record...Exports and Goods Account Achieve 'Triple Crown' (Update)

Bank of Korea Releases Provisional International Balance of Payments for March 2026

Record Highs in Exports, Goods Surplus, and Current Account Surplus Led by Semiconductors

Travel Account Turns to Surplus During Spring Domestic Travel Peak for the First Time in 136 Months

In March, South Korea's current account surplus reached a record high of 37.33 billion dollars, surpassing the previous all-time high set in February. The semiconductor supercycle drove exports to an unprecedented level, also resulting in a record-breaking goods account surplus.

According to the Bank of Korea's provisional release of the "International Balance of Payments for March 2026" on May 8, the country's current account surplus for March stood at 37.33 billion dollars. This marks the largest surplus ever recorded, exceeding the previous record of 23.19 billion dollars in February by more than 60%. Compared to the same period a year earlier (9.58 billion dollars), the surplus has increased nearly fourfold. This also marks the 35th consecutive month of surplus since May 2023, making it the second longest streak of surpluses since 2000.

The record-high current account surplus was driven by an unprecedented goods account surplus. In March, the goods account surplus reached 35.07 billion dollars, significantly surpassing the previous high of 23.36 billion dollars in February. In the same period last year, the surplus was 9.69 billion dollars. Exports totaled 94.32 billion dollars, up 56.9% from a year earlier, setting an all-time high. The IT sector (up 111.7%), led by semiconductors and computer peripherals, continued to perform strongly, while non-IT sectors (up 15%) also saw solid growth, thanks to an increase in the number of business days and higher prices of petroleum products. In March, exports of computer peripherals (SSDs) jumped 167.5% year-on-year by customs clearance standards, while semiconductor exports surged 149.8%. Among non-IT exports, petroleum products rose by 69.2%, chemical products by 9.1%, steel products by 5.9%, and passenger cars by 1.1%.

Imports totaled 59.24 billion dollars, up 17.4% from the same month a year ago. The increase was led by ongoing growth in capital goods and, after six months, a turnaround in raw materials imports, especially chemical products. Imports of capital goods (up 23.6%) were driven by information and communication devices (up 51.6%), transport equipment (up 34.8%), and semiconductors (up 34.5%). Among raw materials (up 8.5%), coal increased by 21.6%, chemical products by 20.5%, and petroleum products by 1.2%, while crude oil (down 5.3%) and gas (down 19.2%) declined. Consumer goods imports rose by 2.1%, as direct consumer goods increased by 10.2%. In contrast, durable consumer goods, including gold, fell slightly by 0.7%, with gold dropping by 50.8%.

Containers are stacked at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The services account posted a deficit of 1.29 billion dollars, narrowing from the previous month's deficit of 1.86 billion dollars. This improvement was attributed to the travel account, which recorded a surplus of 140 million dollars during the spring domestic travel peak season—the first surplus in 136 months since November 2014 (50 million dollars). The other business services account posted a deficit of 1.33 billion dollars, turning negative as payments for research and development (R&D) and intercompany business services increased again after a temporary drop in the previous month.

The primary income account recorded a surplus of 3.58 billion dollars, up from 2.48 billion dollars in the previous month. The dividend income account posted a surplus of 2.7 billion dollars, as dividend receipts from direct and securities investments increased, further widening the surplus.

The net assets in the financial account, calculated as assets minus liabilities, increased by 36.99 billion dollars, a significant jump from the previous month's increase of 22.8 billion dollars. Direct investment saw overseas investments by residents rise by 8.89 billion dollars and foreign investment in Korea increase by 3.77 billion dollars. In portfolio investment, overseas investment by residents rose by 4 billion dollars, mainly in stocks, while foreign investment in Korean stocks dropped by 34.04 billion dollars. Financial derivatives increased by 5.6 billion dollars. In other investments, assets—mainly cash and deposits—decreased by 1.56 billion dollars, while liabilities, mainly borrowings, increased by 8.36 billion dollars. Reserve assets decreased by 1.85 billion dollars.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.