South Korea posted its first current account deficit in two years in April as the soaring prices of oil and raw materials pushed up imports and overseas dividend payments expanded.

According to tentative data from the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Friday, the country's current account posted a deficit of 80 million U.S. dollars in April, the first current account deficit since April 2020. The nation had been logging a current account surplus for the past 23 straight months.

The goods account surplus slipped to two-point-95 billion dollars in April, down two billion dollars from a year earlier.

Exports rose by eleven-point-two percent on-year to 58-point-nine billion dollars, while imports jumped 16-point-five percent to over 55-point-nine billion dollars amid the rising costs of crude oil and raw materials.

The service sector logged a surplus of 570 million dollars in April, turning around from a deficit of 130 million dollars from a year ago.