Exports declined for the eighth consecutive month in May amid persistently sluggish demand in the semiconductor industry.

According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Thursday, exports totaled 52-point-24 billion U.S. dollars in May, down 15-point-two percent from a year earlier, to extend the longest negative streak since the period from December 2018 to January 2020.

The nation witnessed a drop in outbound shipments to all six major markets including China, the U.S., the European Union, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Shipments of semiconductors, the country's key export item, slipped by 36-point-two percent on-year in May, falling for the tenth consecutive month since last August.

Imports logged an on-year drop of 14 percent at 54-point-34 billion dollars, resulting in a trade deficit of two-point-one billion dollars last month.

May was the 15th consecutive month with a balance in the red since March of last year, the longest negative streak in 27 years since the 29-month run from January 1995 to May 1997.