South Korea's current account surplus fell to a seven-year low last year due to a slowdown in global trade.  

According to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea on Thursday, the country's current account surplus came to 59-point-97 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.

That's the lowest since 2012 when it marked 48-point-79 billion dollars. However, the country's current account balance has been in the black for 22 consecutive years since 1998.

The drop in the current account surplus is attributed to slow exports due to the slump in the semiconductor industry and the slowdown in the global economy amid the trade war between China and the U.S.  

The country's goods exports plunged ten-point-three percent on-year to 561-point-96 billion dollars last year, while goods imports slipped six percent to 485-point-11 billion dollars.

Accordingly, the goods account surplus narrowed to 76-point-86 billion dollars last year from about 110 billion dollars a year earlier. 

However, its service account deficit decreased by nine-point-05 billion dollars on-year to 23 billion dollars.