South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 16th consecutive month in August on the back of a surplus in the service account. 

According to tentative data from the central Bank of Korea(BOK) on Thursday, the country's current account surplus came to seven-point-51 billion U.S. dollars in August. 

It’s the 16th straight month a surplus has been logged since May last year and the surplus grew 870 million dollars from a year ago. 

Exports rose by 31-point-two percent on-year to 52-point-two billion dollars, while imports gained 42-point-four percent on-year to 46-point-six billion dollars.  

The service sector posted a surplus of one billion dollars in August, a turnaround from a deficit of 80 million dollars in July. The August figure marks the second largest surplus since October 2008, when it posted one-point-48 billion dollars. 

The surplus in the service sector was driven by a spike in the transport account surplus, which posted one-point-52 million dollars in August, soaring from a surplus of 420 million dollars a year earlier.