South Korea’s annual trade volume topped one trillion dollars for the third straight year in 2013.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the trade volume cleared the mark on December 6 after exports reached 519 billion dollars and imports nearly 481 billion dollars.

South Korea’s trade volume climbed to one trillion dollars for the first time on December 5, 2011, making the South the ninth country in the world to achieve the milestone. The following year, the trade volume surpassed one trillion dollars on December 10.

South Korea’s exports for 2013 are expected to clear 560 billion dollars and break a previous record set in 2011. Imports are set to fall three-tenths of a percent from the previous year for a record trade surplus of 43 billion dollars. The anticipated export volume is 47-hundred times bigger than 120 million dollars in exports in 1964.

The trade ministry said with key export items shifting to materials and parts, South Korea has broken away from a previous export structure that induced imports.

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