South Korea’s semiconductor shipments reached USD 56.44B in October, up 259 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources. Total exports climbed to USD 115.28B, the fastest annual gain since January 1974.
Chips now carry almost half the country’s overseas sales. Servers lifted computer shipments 497 percent. Exports to China rose 134 percent and to the United States 186 percent, a distribution that argues against the idea of a single buyer driving the boom.
The headline number needs care. October held more working days than a year earlier because the Chuseok holiday moved to September. Adjusted for that shift, exports still grew about 76 percent. The trade surplus reached USD 42.5B, slightly below September’s record.
Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan said annual exports above USD 1T should arrive within November. Only the United States, China and Germany have crossed that line. Year-to-date shipments total USD 930B.
The underlying constraint is supply. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have committed most high-bandwidth memory output years ahead, so the gain reflects price and full utilisation rather than a decision to ship more. Capacity added in 2026 arrives slowly, and converting DRAM lines to HBM yields fewer usable bits per wafer.
Imports rose 36 percent on equipment and crude, a reminder that the same boom pulls in tooling Korea does not build. The surplus number looks healthier than the capital intensity behind it.
