South Korea posted the sharpest drop in exports in the first seven months of the year among the world's top ten largest nations.

According to the monthly data compiled by the World Trade Organization, South Korea's outbound shipments slipped eight-point-94 percent in the January-July period from a year earlier to 317-point-three billion dollars.

Hong Kong came in second with a six-point-74 percent drop, followed by Germany, Japan and Britain.

Despite a prolonged trade row with the United States, China's exports gained point-59 percent on-year during the cited period. The U.S. suffered a point-nine percent decline in its exports.

The combined exports of the ten nations came to five-point-six trillion dollars during the period, down two-point-84 percent from a year earlier, marking the first drop since 2016.