South Korea's current account recorded a surplus for the 81st month in a row in November last year.
However, the size of the surplus tumbled to a seven-month low.... due to slower export growth.
Ko Roon-hee reports.
South Korea's current account, which records the nation's transactions with the rest of the world, including its trade in goods and services, has now recorded a surplus each and every month for almost seven years.

However, data from last November show the size of the surplus slid to its lowest level since April 2018.

According to the Bank of Korea, the current account posted a surplus of almost 5-point-1 billion U.S. dollars in November...down from 7-point-4 billion a year earlier.

The central bank attributed the lower numbers to a smaller surplus in the goods account,... mainly due to slower export growth.
The goods account had a surplus of around eight billion dollars... down from eleven-point-five in November 2017.
Exports edged up a mere half-a-percent on-year in November, mainly due to falling semiconductor prices.
Analysts say there's lower demand, because many data centers around the world have been postponing their purchases of semiconductors.
These centers refer to centralized locations where computing and networking equipment is concentrated for storing or processing large amounts of data.

Another reason is slowing growth in world trade volume.
A World Trade Organization forecast in September said global trade growth for last year would fall to three-point-nine percent,...a slowdown from the four-point-seven percent recorded in 2017.
Analysts say the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China is hurting global trade.
An economic expert painted a grim picture for Korean exports this year.

"In 2019, global economic growth is expected to slow down. This will lead to lower demand... and negatively affect Korea's exports. In fact, Korea's export growth is expected to slow down this year."

The services account deficit fell to around two-point-three billion dollars from a deficit of three-point-three billion a year earlier.
This was due to an improvement in the travel account... as South Korea saw an uptick in number of visitors from China and Japan.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.