Exports increased about 12 percent on-year in the first ten days of February, but the daily figure based on the number of working days declined by over 14 percent.

According to tentative data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, the country’s outbound shipments came to 17-point-62 billion dollars in the cited period, up eleven-point-nine percent from a year earlier.

Average daily exports, however, dropped by 14-point-five percent with the number of working days increasing by two from last year to eight-point-five days.

Imports increased 16-point-nine percent on-year to 22-point-59 billion dollars during the same period, resulting in a trade deficit of four-point-97 billion dollars, larger than the shortfall of three-point-56 billion dollars logged a year earlier.

In detail, exports of semiconductors plummeted 40-point-seven percent on-year during the period, while shipments of petroleum products and automobiles gained 28-point-eight percent and 166-point-eight percent, respectively.

Exports to the country's largest trading partner, China, fell ten-point-three percent, while shipments to the U.S. and the European Union each rose 31-point-nine percent and 14-point-one percent, respectively.