South Korea's export growth slowed in the first quarter to rank it as the eighth fastest among the world's top ten exporters.

According to data by the World Trade Organization Sunday, the country's outbound shipment totaled 145-point-four billion dollars from January to March, up ten-point-one percent from a year earlier.

Exports by Asia's fourth-largest economy rose at their fastest pace last year at 15-point-eight percent, far surpassing the average growth of 71 nations at ten percent.

However, the pace has slowed this year and the nation slipped to eighth in the rankings, amid rising protectionism by major countries and sluggish sales in the auto and display sectors.