Exports declined nearly five percent from a year earlier in the first two months of the year. 

According to final data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, the country’s outbound shipments totaled 101-point-six billion U.S. dollars during the two-month period, down four-point-eight percent from a year earlier.

Outbound shipments of semiconductors, the country’s main export item, increased two-point-two percent on-year in the cited period, but posted a decrease of two-point-five percent in February, the first contraction in 16 months. 

Exports to China declined eight percent year-on-year during the two-month period, while exports to the United States dwindled four-point-three percent.

Imports dropped three-point-three percent year-on-year to 99-point-two billion dollars during the same two months, resulting in a trade surplus of four-point-two billion dollars.