South Korea's export prices increased at the fastest pace in eight months in March due to rising oil prices and a stronger U.S. dollar.

According to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea on Friday, the export price index came to 83-point-36 last month, up half a percent from a month earlier.

It was the widest gain since July of last year, when the index increased two-point-five percent. The index also rose for the second consecutive month.

The BOK attributed the rise to a point-seven percent on-month increase in the won-dollar exchange rate and a three-point-six percent hike in South Korea's benchmark Dubai crude last month.

In contrast, prices of semiconductors, one of South Korea's key export items, fell three-point-four percent in March. Prices of dynamic random-access memory(DRAM) chips slipped five-point-two percent, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline.