South Korea's export growth posted the highest among the top ten countries during the first eight months of this year.
 
According to statistics by the World Trade Organization, the nation's exports from January to August totaled over 375 billion dollars, up more than 16-point-four percent year-on-year. This is much higher than the average nine percent growth in shipments of 71 major countries worldwide.
 
South Korea's export growth rate of over 16 percent is well ahead of second-ranking the Netherlands at 12 percent and Japan which came in third with a little over eight percent.
 
By export volume, South Korea ranked sixth in the world this year while China ranked top followed by the United States.
 
In August alone, Korean exports jumped more than 17 percent with just three other countries posting double digit growth in the same month.
 
Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy attributed the export growth to global economic recovery and the booming IT sector including semiconductors.
 
However, increase in exports is expected to slow in the coming months due to fewer business days and global trade protectionist policies.