South Korea's current account surplus increased about 26 percent last year as imports and overseas travel fell by a wider margin than exports amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to tentative data by the Bank of Korea on Friday, the current account surplus for 2020 came to 75-point-28 billion dollars, up 26-point-14 percent from a year earlier.

Exports fell seven-point-two percent to 516-point-six billion dollars, but imports decreased by eight-point-eight percent to 434-point-seven billion dollars due to a fall in the import prices of raw materials such as crude oil. 

In December, the current account surplus reached eleven-point-51 billion.

The current account has been in the black for eight straight months since the country logged a deficit of three-point-33 billion dollars last April. 

The December surplus is two-point-five times larger than the figure for the previous year. 

The goods balance logged a surplus of ten-point-five billion dollars in December, widening from five-point-six billion dollars the previous month.