South Korea's Exports Hit Record High on AI Chip Demand

South Korea's exports surged to a record $120.9bn in September, driven by explosive demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence. The figure marks an 83.5% year-on-year increase, eclipsing the previous monthly record of $102.25bn set in June Source: Al Jazeera.

Key figures

• Chip shipments soared more than 260% to $60.3bn, accounting for nearly half of all exports Source: Al Jazeera.
• Total exports from January through September reached $814.5bn, already exceeding the full-year 2025 record of $709.7bn Source: Al Jazeera.
• The country recorded a trade surplus of $49.85bn in the first nine months of the year Source: Al Jazeera.

Economic impact

South Korea's nominal GDP growth hit a five-decade high of 26.4% year-on-year in the April-June quarter. The Ministry of Finance and Economy forecasts real GDP to grow 3% in 2026, the strongest performance since 2017, excluding pandemic years Source: Al Jazeera. The AI boom has also propelled the benchmark Kospi stock index up nearly 60% this year Source: Al Jazeera.

Outlook and risks

Trade Minister Kim Jeong-kwan expressed confidence in reaching $1 trillion in annual exports, but warned that "the strengthening of global protectionism and tensions in the Middle East remain major variables affecting our exports" Source: Al Jazeera. South Korea's semiconductor industry, led by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, controls roughly 80% of the global high-bandwidth memory market and 60% of the dynamic random-access memory market, according to Counterpoint Research Source: Al Jazeera.