Latest figures form the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have shown that South Korea's exports recorded the fastest quarter growth among the world's leading exporting countries.
South Korea’s first quarter revenue totalled $132.3 billion, rising 14.9 percent from the same period last year.
The WTO said in its report that despite a decline in world trade over the past two years, Korea’s exports have recovered rapidly, jumping from the No. 8 spot last year to No. 6 among the top 10 exporting countries ranking for the first quarter of this year.
Korea has witnessed an increase in exports for the past seven consecutive months, and so far in the month of May, exports have increased by 3.4 percent.
The latest data released revealed that exports of oil and petrochemical goods by Korean refiners also reached an all-time high in the first three months of the year.
WTO said that the world trade industry as a whole is seeing its first signs of rebounding this year, raking in $76.67 trillion dollars in the first three months of the year, rising about 10.4 percent compared to 2016.
The world’s 71 main trading countries saw an average first quarter rate growth this year reaching roughly 9.8 percent, with 64 countries seeing positive growth.
China’s exports - the world‘s largest exporter – rose by 8.2 percent, while exports from the US, the world’s second largest exporter, rose by 7.3 percent.
