South Korea’s October IT Exports Unconfirmed Despite Chip Boom
Key Facts
The widely cited figure for South Korea’s information and communications technology exports in October, and its year-on-year growth rate, could not be verified through an accessible official or reliable source. No documented tally is therefore available to confirm that sector exports hit a record that month or reached the value cited in the circulating account. The latest official tally documented in the available records was for September 2026, when exports reached $75.15 billion, up 195.8% from a year earlier, according to a statement by the ministries of Trade, Industry and Resources and Science and ICT. These figures are not an October result; they offer a picture of the previous month. In September, the data showed that sector activity had already reached a high level ahead of the period covered by the report.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said semiconductor exports set a monthly record in September for the second consecutive month. The ministry attributed this to expanding demand for AI infrastructure, which lifted sales of high-value products. It also cited continued increases in contract prices for conventional memory, a factor that supported chip exports during the month. These factors put September’s performance in the context of demand linked to AI investment, but do not in themselves verify the October export figures cited in the circulating account. The October tally still needs an official, verifiable figure before it can be treated as a confirmed monthly result.
The weight of the information and communications technology sector was also reflected in South Korea’s broader trade picture in September. Sector exports accounted for 62.1% of the country’s total exports of $120.94 billion, marking the second consecutive month in which the sector’s share exceeded 60%, the ministry said. ICT imports reached $21.43 billion, up 55.3% year on year, compared with $13.80 billion in the same period. The gap between exports and imports produced an ICT trade surplus of $53.71 billion. The figures indicate that strong technology exports contributed to the trade surplus, while the comparison remains specific to September, not October.
South Korean companies’ results provide further context for the momentum in chip demand. Samsung Electronics said its operating profit in the third quarter of 2026 reached a record 107.4 trillion won, driven by strong demand for memory chips used in AI systems, according to the Associated Press. The company linked its results to demand for these chips, while the ministry attributed September’s rise in semiconductor exports to expanding AI infrastructure and higher contract prices for conventional memory. Samsung’s result remains a quarterly figure for the company, not a statement on South Korean exports in October. It puts the export sector’s performance in the context of a memory market whose companies have benefited from AI-related demand.
Samsung and SK Hynix’s production expansion plans, announced in June 2026, also stand out in this context. The companies announced plans to invest a total of 800 trillion won in a new chipmaking hub in southwestern South Korea to capitalize on AI-driven demand, according to the Associated Press. The plan reflects a bet on the continued importance of this demand for South Korean producers, but remains an investment announcement and does not provide evidence for October’s export figure. The Bank of Korea, meanwhile, warned that the country’s trade reliance on chips is increasing and that any AI-related downturn could amplify the damage. The warning places export concentration in the same sector now supporting growth among the risks the bank is monitoring.