Exports fell nearly ten percent on-year in the first 20 days of December. 

According to tentative data from the Korea Customs Service on Tuesday, the country’s outbound shipments marked 33-point-64 billion dollars in the cited period, down eight-point-eight percent from a year earlier.

Average daily exports also dropped by eight-point-eight percent with the number of working days unchanged from last year at 15-point-five. 

Imports increased one-point-nine percent on-year to about 40 billion dollars during the same period, resulting in a trade deficit of six-point-42 billion dollars. 

The annual cumulative trade deficit up to the 20th day of December hit a record high for the period at 48-point-nine billion dollars, keeping the country on course to post its first yearly trade deficit since the global financial crisis in 2008.