Exports grew about five percent on-year in the first 20 days of June.

According to tentative data from the Korea Customs Service on Wednesday, the country’s outbound shipments marked 32-point-89 billion dollars in the cited period, up five-point-three percent from a year earlier to post the first 20-day growth in ten months.

Despite the increase, average daily exports dropped by two percent with the number of working days increasing by one day from last year to 14 and a half.

Exports of automobiles and ships jumped 110-point-one percent and 148-point-seven percent each, while semiconductors and petroleum products slipped 23-point-five percent and 36 percent, respectively.

Outbound shipments to the country's largest trading partner, China, fell 12-point-five percent, while exports to the United States and the European Union each rose 18-point-four percent and 26-point-four percent.

Imports dropped eleven-point-two percent on-year to 34-point-52 billion dollars during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of one-point-67 billion dollars, smaller than the shortfall of four-point-29 billion dollars logged a month earlier.