South Korea's exports decreased by over ten percent in January, ending a 15-month streak of increase in shipments overseas.

According to the trade ministry on Saturday, exports last month totaled 49-point-12 billion U.S. dollars, down ten-point-three percent from a year earlier.

The on-year drop has put the brakes on a 15-month rise in exports since October 2023.

The ministry attributed the decline in shipments to reduced working days stemming from the Lunar New Year holiday falling in January this year.

It added that the daily average export volume reached two-point-46 billion dollars, up seven-point-seven percent on-year.

Shipments of semiconductors jumped eight-point-one percent on-year to ten-point-one billion dollars, the second-largest for the month of January following ten-point-eight billion dollars in 2022.

Exports of automobiles, on the other hand, fell 19-point-six percent from last year to five billion dollars, due largely to carmakers and auto part manufacturers extending the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of last month.

The nation's imports also dropped six-point-four percent from a year earlier to 51 billion dollars, resulting in a trade deficit of one-point-89 billion dollars to end a 19-month streak of surplus.