The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced on Tuesday that information and communication technology (ICT) exports grew one-point-six percent on-year in September.   
 
The latest figure, standing at roughly 16 billion U.S. dollars, was the highest to be posted so far this year.
 
Imports of ICT surged one-point-four percent during the same period to amount to some seven-point-eight billion dollars, resulting in a trade surplus of eight-point-one billion dollars.
 
A ministry official said South Korea’s ICT exports posted growth for two consecutive months despite forecasts that the global ICT market would contract and despite a decline in the nation’s overall exports. The official said the ICT sector had served as a pillar of the nation’s industries.
 
Last month, mobile phone exports surged 34 percent to stand at two-point-eight billion dollars. Semiconductor exports grew eight-tenths of a percent to roughly five-point-nine billion dollars while exports of digital TVs amounted to 610 million dollars, or up more than nine percent.
 
Exports of displays and computers, meanwhile, fell 14 percent each during the same period.