South Korea's exports moved down 8.2 percent in March from a year earlier, government data showed Monday, due to falling global prices of chips coupled with the slowing Chinese economy.
Outbound shipments came to US$47.1 billion for March, down from the $51.3 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Imports decreased 6.7 percent over the cited period to reach $41.8 billion, the ministry added.
Exports fell on-year for the fourth consecutive month.
The ministry said the decline is also due to a high base effect, as South Korea's export figure for March 2018 was the highest for the month.
Under the ministry's calculation, South Korea's exports tumbled 5.9 percent when excluding chips and 5.5 percent when ignoring China-related factors. China is the biggest trading partner of Asia's fourth-largest economy.
South Korea's trade surplus came to $5.22 billion in March, marking 86 straight months in which the country's exports have exceeded imports.