The country posted a trade deficit for the seventh consecutive month in October.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday, the country's outbound shipments came to 52-point-48 billion U.S. dollars last month, down five-point-seven percent from a year earlier.

Imports, on the other hand, rose by nine-point-nine percent on-year to 59-point-18 billion dollars last month to post a trade deficit of six-point-seven billion dollars in October.

The monthly trade deficit is the second-largest after the deficit of nine-point-47 billion dollars logged in August.

Exports marked on-year decline for the first time in October after posting growth for 23 straight months, a drop partly attributed by the industry to falling prices of the country's main export item, semiconductors, and China's shriveled market.