The country posted a current account surplus for the third consecutive month in July, but saw a sharp decline as the goods balance posted a deficit for the first time in a decade.

According to tentative data by the Bank of Korea on Wednesday, the country's current account surplus marked one-point-09 billion U.S. dollars in July, plunging by six-point-62 billion dollars from seven-point-71 billion dollars a year earlier.

Although July’s figure was the third straight month in the black, the surplus shrank as a result of a goods balance deficit of one-point-18 billion dollars in July, the first deficit in ten years and three months since April 2012.

The deficit is attributed to soaring import costs, with a six-point-nine percent on-year gain for exports heavily outweighed by a 21-point-two percent jump in imports.

Raw material imports rose 35-point-five percent on-year in July. In particular, imports of crude oil, coal, gas and petroleum products spiked 73-point-seven percent over the previous year.