Exports fell more than 20 percent on-year in the first ten days of December. 
 
According to tentative data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, the country’s outbound shipments marked 15-point-four billion dollars in the cited period, down 20-point-eight percent from a year earlier.
 
The decline was in part driven by a drop in the number of working days by a half-day. Average daily exports declined 15-point-eight percent. 
 
Imports dipped seven-point-three percent on-year to 20-point-three billion dollars during the same period, resulting in a trade deficit of four-point-92 billion dollars.
 
The annual cumulative trade deficit up until the first ten days of December hit a record high for the period at 47-point-five billion dollars, keeping the country on course to posting its first trade deficit since the global financial crisis in 2008.