South Korea’s exports hit record high on AI boom

South Korea’s goods exports climbed to a fresh monthly high in September as booming demand for semiconductors tied to artificial intelligence applications drove a sharp jump in shipments. Preliminary customs data released on Thursday showed exports rose 83.5% from a year earlier to $120.9 billion, topping the prior monthly record of $102.25 billion set in June. Semiconductor shipments accounted for almost half of the total, with chip exports rising more than 260% to $60.3 billion, according to the Korea Customs Service. That surge was a central factor behind exports from January through September reaching $814.5 billion, already exceeding the total for all of 2025, when the country recorded a record $709.7 billion in exports. Government officials highlighted the economic significance of the performance. Trade and industry minister Kim Jeong-kwan said the result reflected the competitiveness of South Korean firms, while cautioning that global protectionism and tensions in the Middle East were risks that could affect future outbound shipments. The Ministry of Finance and Economy has projected real GDP growth of 3% for 2026, which would be the strongest showing since 2017 outside the pandemic years. The export boom has coincided with marked gains in Korea’s financial markets and national output measures. The country’s nominal GDP growth for the April–June quarter surged 26.4% year-on-year, a five-decade high, and the benchmark Kospi index has risen nearly 60% this year. South Korea is home to major memory-chip firms such as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics; Counterpoint Research data cited in the customs report notes the pair control around 80% of the global high-bandwidth memory market and about 60% of the dynamic random-access memory market. While the AI-driven chip cycle has powered record trade figures and strong market performance, authorities and industry observers remain attentive to geopolitical and trade-policy headwinds that could temper future growth.